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UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
THE MUSEUM
PUBLICATIONS OF THE BABYLONIAN SECTION
BY
1 *
JAMES A MONTGOMERY
4
PROFESSOR AT THE PHILADELPHIA DIVINITY SCHOOL
AXD ASSISTANT PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
PHILADELPHIA
PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY MUSEUM
1913
PJ"
630411
TO
MY FATHER AND MOTHER
FIRST AND BEST OF TEACHERS
CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE 7
INTRODUCTION 13
TEXTS: PAGE
Nos. 1-42. TRANSLITERATION, TRANSLATION, NOTES 117
Nos. 1-30. "RABBINIC" TEXTS 117
Nos. 31-37. SYRIAC TEXTS 223
Nos. 38-40. MANDAIC TEXTS 244
APPENDIX:
GLOSSARIES:
PREFATORY NOTE 267
A. PERSONAL NAMES 269
B. PERSONAL NAMES AND EPITHETS OF DEITIES, ANGELS,
DEMONS, ETC 274
C. GENERAL GLOSSARY 281
PLATES
TEXTS
ALPHABETIC TABLES . . .
PHOTOGRAPH OF BOWL
PREFACE
The primary purpose of this publication was to edit, with
translationand necessary notes, the incantation texts inscribed
on bowls from Nippur, now in the possession of the Museum.
But soon became apparent that full account should be made
it
sorcery while at the same time and this is the more impor-
tant because a less expected discover}^ it takes its place in
that great field of Hellenistic magic which pervaded the whole
of the western world at the beginning of the Christian era.
My chief contribution to the study has been in these two direc-
tions, the relations with the cuneiform religious texts and the
Greek magical papyri. The writer's knowledge of Egyptian
magic was wholly at second hand, and in any case that earlier
influence was mediated to this special field through Hellenism.
The Christian Syrian literature is shown to have its close con-
nections, being thoroughly infused, as was the early Church, with
JAMES A. MONTGOMERY.
THE UNIVERSITY MUSEUM, February 2, 1912.
I. SURVEY OF THE MATERIAL
The bowls are made of a good clay, and are wheel-turned and kiln-
1
dried; they have no surface, slip or glazing of any kind. They were a
domestic ware, intended for foods, and in no way differ from the simple
vessels which to this day are made in the Orient for household use.
years 1888, 1889. According to Peters' account, these bowls were found
on the top, or in the first strata of the mounds, in several places. They
what Peters suggests were Jewish settlements the whole surface of one ;
hill, he says "was covered with a Jewish settlement, the houses of which
were built of mud-brick, and in almost every house we found one, or more,
1
Many such large specimens are in the British Museum and at Constantinople.
1
I am indebted to Mr. D. Randall-Maclver, late of the Museum, for the
characterization of the pottery.
*
See his Nippur, the Index to which, sub "Jewish incantation bowls" gives the
references.
13
14 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
It was interesting to find, between one and two metres below the surface,
in the immediate neighborhood of slipper-shaped coffins, inscribed Hebrew
1
bowls." As for the chronological light thrown upon these bowls, Cufic
coins were found in the houses of these "Jewish" settlements,' and one
of the most extensive finds of inscribed bowls was in the strata above the
"Court of Columns," a Parthian building.' Peters holds the seventh
century to be the latest date for the Jewish settlements where Cufic coins
were found."
The Museum Catalogue counts over 150 numbers of this class of
bowls, No. 2954, containing only four circular lines of inscription, inter-
ested me as presenting a novel alphabet but I soon came to the conclusion ;
that this is but another "fake," produced we may suppose by some learned
impostor or wag.
4
ii, 182 f .
; cf. p. 194.
'
i, 245.
'
ii, 183. On the following page the writer says that Arabic bowls along with
Jewish and Syriac were found but the Museum contains no Arabic specimens.
;
7
Hilprecht, Explorations in Bible Lands, p. 447.
*
i'. IS3, 183, 186. For further discussion of the date, see 14.
In cases the inscriptions were written by laymen, who thus saved them-
many
selves the exorcist's fee. Schwab notices some forged bowls at Constantinople,
PSBA, xiii, 595.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 15
portion of the interior, a side, or the upper or lower portion of the bowl
may have become illegible, probably through the action of water. The
inscription being spiral, such mutilations intrude their annoyance into every
line. The damaged nature of this collection has added much to the toil
of decipherment, for every break in the text and every effacement necessi-
tates speculation as to the missing contents. On the other hand it is cause
for remark and gratitude that these fragile vessels have been preserved as
intact as they are, and that the scribes used such excellent ink that what
they wrote has largely survived in defiance of "the powers of the air," the
elements and the corroding chemical agents.
As a result of the investigation of the whole collection I have selected
40 bowls for publication, to which number should be added the one pub-
lished earlier by Myhrman (accompanying No. 7). The remaining bowls
and fragments are on the whole too illegible or too undecipherable to
make it worth while to add them to this material. The languages of the
inscriptions are three Aramaic dialects: (i) the language with which we
are familiar from the Babylonian Talmud, to which belong Nos. 1-30;
(2) a Syriac dialect, Nos. 31-37; the Mandaic, Nos. 38-40. Each of these
has its own script. As an appendix, I publish, as No. 41, a human skull
"
With few exceptions, all the bowls I have deciphered have been put together
from fragments into which they had fallen, in the Museum.
2. THE MATERIAL HITHERTO PUBLISHED, AND IN OTHER COLLECTIONS'
Babylon? In describing his finds at Tell Amran, near Hillah, the great
the British Museum, which had also acquired through Colonel Rawlinson
eight specimens obtained at Bagdad, their provenance however being
unknown. In a later passage (p. 524) Layard records the discovery of a
similar bowl, along with many fragments, at Nippur, the precursor of
the collection in Philadelphia.
Layard committed his bowls to Mr. Thomas Ellis, of the staff of the
British Museum, whose results are given in Layard's work, appearing
pp. 509-523.' Layard himself takes up the discussion p. 523 ff. with
interpretations of the bowls, but also that the facsimiles were unreliable.
Hence the latter can only be used with caution or with the aid of later
1
Stiihe, Jiidisch-babylonische Zaubertexte, 1895, gives a good review of the
literature up to date, although requiring some corrections and additions. See also
Wohlstein, in ZA, viii (1893), 313 f.
1
London, 1853. There is a German translation by Zenker, the bowls appearing
there in Plate xx.
1
Layard leaves it somewhat which bowls were treated by Ellis.
indefinite
(16)
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 17
copies, while the bowls published without facsimiles are absolutely worth-
less as scientific copy. Layard's publication therefore did little more than
attract the attention of scholars to a fresh field of philology and religious
lore.
overthrowing the claims that had been advanced for a pre-Christian origin.
Twenty years later J. M. Rodwell published a bowl from Hillah that
had been procured by the British Museum, under the title, Remarks upon
6
a Terra-Cotta Vase, with a photographic facsimile. This second English
venture at decipherment was no better than the first, its sole merit lying
in the fact that the French scholar J. Halevy was induced to take up the
same bowl on the basis of the facsimile, and to give it a scholarly translit-
eration and translation, with commentary, under the title, Observation sur
7
un vase judeo-babylonien du British Museum. Four of the bowls that
had been published were presented by the great Hebrew epigraphist
Chwolson in his monumental Corpus inscriptionum hcbraicarum* The first
(Chwolson's number, 18) is Ellis no. i, the second (no. 19) is Ellis no. 3,
the third (no. 20) is the bowl published by Rodwell and Halevy; and the
5
Ober die von Layard aufgefundenen chalddischen Inschriften auf Topfge-
jassen. Bin Beitrag zur hebrdischen Paldographie u. s. Religionsgeschichte, with
Ellis's facsimile. Levy again treated the same inscription under the title "Epi-
graphische Beitrage zur Geschichte der Juden," in the Jahrbuch f. d. Geschichte d.
Juden, ii (1861), 266, 294.
In TSBA, ii (1873), 114-
'
In Comptes rendus deI'Academic des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, series iv,
vol. v (for 1877; Paris, 1878), 288. He re-edited his material in his Melanges de
critique et d'histoire, 229.
*
St. Petersburg, 1882, col. 113 f. The facsimiles are reproduced at the end
of the volume. The Russian edition of this work (St. Petersburg, 1884) publishes
five bowls and considerably varies from the German edition (so Wohlstein, ZA, viii,
315). For nos. 19, 21, Chwolson made use of improved transcripts prepared for him
by Halevy. In his review of the Corpus in the Gottingische Gelehrte Anzeige for
1883, Landauer comments on these bowls (p. 507).
18 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
fourth (no. 21) is Ellis no. 5. Chwolson adopted a skeptical position to-
ward the speculations and guesses of his predecessors, and his commentaries
are valuable as a restraint upon their theories. Of special interest is his
discussion of the age of the bowls from the palaeographic point of view
a subject which I take up in 5.
The most extensive editor of the material under discussion has been
Moise Schwab, the author of the French translation of the Talmud. In
1882 he published, in collaboration with E. Babelon, a bowl in the
appearing in the two volumes of the PSBA Dr. Schwab contributed studies
of two bowls to the Revue d'assyriologie, etc., under thetitle, "Deux vases
judeo-babyloniens."
12
These he numbered F and G so as to align them
with those appearing in the other publications. The material thus presented
by Schwab is as follows :
A, PSBA,
in = Ellis, no. i; Levy; Chwolson,
xii no. 18.
'
In Revue des etudes juives, iv (1882), 165.
10
In Revue de I'assyriologie et d'archcologie orientale, i (1886), 117.
11
292: Les coupes magiques et I'hydromancie daus I'autiquite orientale,
In vol. xii,
with introductory remarks, and, p. 296, a description of the 22 bowls then in the
British Museum in vol. xiii, 583
; Coupes a inscriptions magiques. This material
:
was firstpresented to the French Academy of Inscriptions in the years 1883, 1885,
1891. At the end of the first article is a glossary to the bowls published therein.
" ii (1892), 136.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 19
M, in PSBA, xiii ;
a bowl in the Louvre, acquired by Heuzey.
N, O, P, in PSBA, xiii ;
three bowls in the collection Dieulafoy from
Susiana.
11
In Zeitschrift f. Keilschriftforschung, ii (1885), 113.
14
This publication received criticism from M. Griinbaum on a subsequent page
of the same journal (p. 217), especially for its dependence upon Kohut's notions
of lewish angelology; and on p. 295 Noldeke expressed some comments on the text,
especially animadverting on its age.
15
Rev. d. Assyrlologie, ii, 137.
ZA, viii (1893), 313, and ix (1894), n, In vol. viii appears no. 2422; in vol.
ix, nos. 2416, 2426, 2414, 2417.
20 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
reach the site where the bowls were found. His work, entitled Inscriptions
mandaites des coupes de Khouabir, contains some valuable appendices, of
wider interest than the title suggests, and is furnished like the earlier
monograph with full apparatus. Five more Mandaic bowls were published
Louvre.
11
Halle, 1895.
18
ZA, ix, 308.
" In and
the Memoires de la Societe de Linguistique (Paris), viii, 193, in separate
print.
20
Paris, 1898, with facsimiles and full glossary; reviewed by Noldeke, WZKM,
xii, 141; Lidzbarski, TLZ, 1899, col. 171; Schwally, OLZ, ii, 7, 458; Chabot,
iii,
Revue critique, xlvi, 43, xlix, 484. Pognon also saw some bowls in the square
character, some in Estrangelo, and some which he presumed might be in Pahlavi (p. i).
In my citations to Pognon, I cite his two books as and B respectively. A
*
Leipzig, 1909; p. 342.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 21
the title An Aramaic Incantation Text; this text is given below in parallel
with No. 7.
various museums. Despite a query addressed over a year ago I have not
received any information from the authorities as to the number and char-
acter of the bowl-texts at the Imperial Museum in Constantinople; its
collection from what I hear must be large and fine, and has been particularly
enriched from Nippur.
Dr. L. W. King has kindly informed me that the British Museum con-
tains 61 bowls of our class, exhibited in the Babylonian Room. Some of
the specimens, I also learn, are of very large size. The texts are in the
19 of these. In the same museum there are two inscribed skulls, similar
sense used above. These bowls are said to have been found at Hillah.
this text I have prepared for publication in the Journal of the American
" Journal
asiatique, X, vii, 8.
**
Mittheilungen, no. 43, p. 13.
22 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
extending from Nippur and Bismaya on the south to Asshur on the north,
and lying on both sides of the Euphrates.
24
The "Roman bowl from Bagdad" described by O. S. Tonks in the Am. Journal
of Archaeology, 1911, 310, on which he would find some magical syllables, has been
proved by A. T. Olmstead (ib., 1912, 83) to be a late Arabic forgery. Pahlavi A
bowl inscription reported by A. V. W. Jackson, JAOS, xxviii, 345, does not belong
to our category.
3- SOME NOTES ON THE TEXTS HITHERTO PUBLISHED
I offer in this section some critical notes on the texts described in the
last section. The texts would in many cases have been simplified if the
editorshad recognized that there is no distinction in the script between
n and n, and most often none between land \ The glossary will indicate
emendations of simple words, but here I present corrections necessary for
the construction.
In Ellis 3 the opening lines should read :' nynBi 'JtDD "i nana H pnm
(3) xmo'si nan nsTia ^3 ... n:'n 13 nTBito [o jinbw (2) pox
'ji xriD^i '[I]TJ nj'n 13 rnsno |D |inbi3 pox xtwx '33 ^3 DIBI
2
The discovery of the proper names, Mehperoz son of Hindu
(see Glossary P>), clears up these lines. xmD'N = xmnD X <l
? but see
Glossary C under latter word. After the firstword the scribe intended to
glossary. In 1.
4 f . there is a parallelism to the opening lines of Schwab G :
Ellis 3 Schwab G
'3'Bn rroe> (?) miD ns'Bn man DIKO njnx ro'Bn froc? roan msn nssn
'
^3T nrryB' nys>n 'bm '3Bni 'Ji3 sntoib xs'Bn ^ro n^sn 3313 ro'sn
'Ji N3KT xnmb (?) rv-iBTt KCTJX 'Ji X3ST snoib KS'Bn scmvtr ns^Bn
1
The numbers in the text represent the spiral lines.
'
This reading is certain in 1. 8.
(23)
24 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
be the Assyrian keivan (biblical p'3 ), used in the general sense of planet.
pnw, xnij?E>, are used in the sense of derisio, etc. (see Payne-Smith, Thes.,
col. 4249 f.). What follows is to be read thus: "The curse of father and
(K'-ie>), what is far and what is near, what is found in country or city
what is found in the country is loosed, and what curses ( ?) in the city
For the bowl edited by Rodwell, Halevy, Chwolson and Schwab, I give
the following transliteration : Knobe>Ni '1TJ1 xncibl pB'pn pl3ljn pe3 penn i>3
appears also in Schwab E. With this parallel to our aid I read : S3313 'IN
Nn'tnnb 'enn KB^O 'Kim mos wan rvbin: i. e. "Oh (or, woe), the star
8
on which rides salvation (healing), the one which teaches arts to witches;"
that is, some star potent in medicine and black arts, which may be invoked
for good or evil. Towards the end is to be read : KDK1
N'DiDO 13 iVDE"3
Enisn K3t. "in the name of Bar Mesosia (a master-conjurer evidently),
the great Ineffable Name."
For Schwab E, see notes on the bowl just discussed. In the middle
of the inscription for rrnlp 'cnn , read 'p 'Din .
*
Perfect, followed by futuritive ppl.
4
Not an Arabism, as Halevy suggests.
6
Pael pass. ppl.
*
A Syriac interjection ;
or do these characters belong to 'Sin ? In the parallel,
Schwab E, we have h K'Sin.
'
Cf. the Rabbinic mj.
'
Cf . Mai. 3 : 20.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TfiXTS. 25
In Schwab G, 1.
9, 'M D'yet? n^p xo!?j? = "wherefore have I heard a
voice? I have heard the voice of a man, Mesarsia," etc.
word read sroio , "I adjure," which disposes of one of Schwab's proofs
demons are bidden to depart from the sorcerer's client and transfer them-
selves to any persons he has cursed. For 6 (W. 8), see below,
rP3T, 1.
to 2 :
2, and for rrann "of Yahwe," = 1.
15 (W. 22), see 13 7 and 26 4. : :
KH by, 1. 22 (W. 31) = "on ground of, in the name of the Mystery."
2417, 11.
3, 6, for Tin read 'ran. Then nm 'OK = "my grandmother,"
and 'n xnnbx = "the great goddess."
'
Stiibe's text is much the better.
II. SCRIPT AND LANGUAGE
4. INTRODUCTORY
three classes: (i) Of the "Rabbinic" dialect in the square character; (2)
of a Syriac dialect, in a novel form of Estrangelo script; (3) of the
Mandaic dialect in its peculiar alphabet. Bowl inscriptions of the first
and third classes have been published but so no Syriac text has
;
far
unity in the language of the Talmud, which is alive with dialectic varieties.
But the Talmud is practically our only source for a certain family
of Aramaic dialects in Babylonia, easily distinguished from the two other
literary dialects, the Syriac (Edessene) and Mandaic. The name chosen
2
is a convenient handle.
1
Our texts themselves, as the discussion will show, are frequently of non-
Jewish origin.
2
"Babylonian" or the old-fashioned "Chaldaic," might be used, but each is
(26)
5- THE RABBINIC TEXTS
they might all have been written in the same year, so far as palaeography
Some of the scribes wrote a neat, even a beautiful hand; but many were
written by careless scribes, and many by illiterate ones, probably often by
1
In Layard, op. cit., 510; so Layard himself for no. i, p. 525.
2
ZDMG, ix, 474.
'
See Hyvernat, p. 140, on Levy and Chwolson's arguments.
(27)
28 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
and e> six, etc. Now when one short text offers so many varieties in
results would be unprofitable. For a round date the bowls might be placed
on palaeographical grounds at about 500 A. C., but this date might be carried
further back or further down according as other evidence might be
adduced.
The finial letters are used, but with few instances of finial V. A
phenomenon that presents some difficulty is the practical identification of 1
4
Zeits. f. Keilschriftforsch., ii, 296.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 29
Eastern Aramaic.
The vowel letters 1 and '
are used abundantly, always in terminal
syllables and for long vowels, and very commonly for short vowels. Yet
there is variation in this respect, even in the same text. On the whole
goes without saying that there are no vowel points. In one bowl
It
CXo. 13) a kind of pothook has been used to separate words, and here
and there a point has been used, but this is the extent of the punctuation.
Sometimes a scoring is found between the lines of script and by means of
vertical lines phrases are blocked off; these are generally magical combina-
5
In the elder type of n, the left leg was attached to the upper bar, hence the
confusion with n was easier. The Rabbis preferred this form; see Men. zgb.
The close assimilation of the two letters appears in the Assouan papyri of the fifth
century B. C.
6
JAOS, 1911, 272.
30 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
B. The Language
The grammatical phenomena in the bowls from Nippur can for the
most part be exemplified from the Babylonian Talmud, and like the latter
they present various dialectic types. On the one hand they have close
connections with Mandaic and on the other they show some Syriac idioms.
notice firrD'K, prprva, "their mother, house." etc.; twi3'p':, pi., Kn^'N;
with prefixes: nanB'3; MOTwi); pntap**!, "their left hand;" and with 1,
The same bowl offers poiwn, with the intrusion of a new vowel,
as is particularly characteristic of Mandaic.'
For the pronouns I may refer to the lists at end of Glossary C. For
their suffixal forms may be noted n'33, 2: 4, and even m3, n: 9 (etc),
"his sons," ni>y = wfyy in duplicate texts (see to n: 9), as common in
Mandaic, and appearing also in the Talmud. For the 2nd per. pi. fern.
The ist pers. sing, appears as r6t3p or rp^Dp, for a verb of {-stem
1
Noldeke, Maud. Grain., 25.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 31
Second feminine plurals, which are lacking in the Talmud, are found ;
is fern, singular or plural; in the duplicate text to No. II, the plural is
evident.
For the few cases of the quiescence of y in verbal forms, see above.
In S"B roots we have, e. g., noxnK, 'DDTI. Unique is the final loss of the
i> of i>tx in the participal form xrrK ,6:6. For forms of Kin we have
irrn, 'rrn (both in the same text), spelt elsewhere inn, Tin. The masc.
plural of the participle appears as pn, in; cf. ;n, jot, from NnD, sen.
As to the prepositions there is the interchange of h and by, as in
Mandaic. Also observe the occurrence in the same line of TtlOTp and
Totnp ,3:7-
There is almost nothing peculiar in the syntax. I note the occurrence
of an old- Aramaic idiom in pnbn'3, "their house," i : 6 ;
also the unique
'
See Levias, Grammar of the Aramaic Idiom Contained in the Bab. Talmud,
188.
6. Tug SYRIAC TEXTS
with the Palmyrene and Edessene in pointing i, and with the former in
not distinguishing n . The Seyame or double points are used ; this mark
is generally written on the last letter, but occasionally , generally for
reasons of space, on an earlier character. Once the two points are
written vertically, 33 :
5 ; they may include the points of 1, and in 34 6 1 :
appears to have the two points one above and one below. The script
provides the pronominal fern, suffix n with an upper point, an ancient
2
distinction in literary Syriac. But there is marked distinction from the
Edessene type in the absence of ligature ; letters may touch one another,
but they are not purposely written together.
1
Chwolson thinks that the script of this bowl is of older type than that of the
Edessene MS. of 411 (CIH, col. 116).
*
In 34 4 XB>ID
:
, "Moses," is written with a point over K to represent the e
sound?
(32)
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 33
nordsem. Epigraphik, and for the history of the cursive Edessene script,
the latter work, p. 193.
point as in Palmyrene, but the figure of both characters faces to the right,
a unique phenomenon. The character 3 is unique, with its long curve
extending far to the left, so that this feature becomes the characteristic
4
and the head degenerates to a point; but here again the Palmyrene type
may be compared. The letter J is sui generis, the medial character may be
related to the Palmyrene ;
the finial with its long stroke recalls the
'
E. g. Sachau, "Edessenische Inschriften," ZDMG, 1882, 142; n. b. no. 8.
*
The nearest approach to this type appears in a similar character with a long
tail in the Syriac MS. from Turkestan published by Sachau in the SiteHltgsbtrichtt
accordingly an older type than the literary Estrangelo and the Edessene
inscriptions ;
its most pronounced relationships are with the cursive Pal-
myrene, and it is to be regarded as an independent sister of the Edessene
century, though other evidence may induce us to date the texts some
centuries later.
Academy, 1904, 348 ff., and the facsimiles published in subsequent volumes
of the same journal, e. g. that facing p. 1077, in the volume for 1905. In
my Alphabetic Tables at the end of this work I shall present the correspond-
ence in parallelism. The Turkish script is very much younger than ours,
but has steadfastly preserved the type inherited from Babylonia. Mani
came from Babylon, a few miles distant from Nippur, and we must
suppose that our script was the local use of that region, which came to be
adopted by Mani and his sect as the vehicle of their literature.
'
It be worth while to suggest that we possess in this peculiar script the
may
script of theHarranian pagans, vulgarly known as the Sabians. As Chwolson has
shown in his monumental work, Die Ssabier und der Ssabisinus, these heathens
spoke a pure Syriac (i, 258 f.). although the peculiar alphabets assigned to them
by Arabic writers are fictitious or kabbalistic (ii, 845).
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 35
abundantly appear (e. g. WvW>, plural; NDJns. etc.), plcne writings are
also frequent, e. g. xsx^D, KJD'N, sopJTO, nrn, xob'n, NDNS, etc. There also
occurs at times the confusion of n and n , characteristic in the square
Aramaic texts and in the Mandaic : n for n in pivno 31 :
5, nm 38: 3, HTna
32: 4; and n for n pnnno'K and pnnmN 36: 5, TanrvN36: i. The same
in
sorcerer or family appears to have written bowls in both the Rabbinic and
Syriac dialects (see Nos. 33-35), and hence the natural contamination of
the one by the other.
pronoun pbn 31:5, the plural of the verb e. g. jvru 31:6, the participle
pn 37: 8, etc.
B. The Language
The dialect belongs to the Edessene type; this is evident from the
forms of pronouns and verbs. But there is extensive corruption from
the type of dialect which has been literarily preserved in the Mandaic.
This appears, as we have seen, in the Mandaic confusion of n and n.
The 3rd sing. masc. or fern, suffix to a plural appears as n; e. g. nj3, "his
sons," 33: 13 (with Seyame), the same for "her sons" (with single point
over n), m^s? (with Scydthe), 37: 8, etc. We have observed the same
phenomenon in the Rabbinic texts.
the pronoun ni^'v, 37: 8; KT3 for NTJD, 34: 8, cf. sniB for KiniB; pans* for
, 37: 10; the construct DiE>, e. g. 34: 6. There are also some peculiar
36 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
distinguishing them from those in the MSS. of the fifteenth and following
centuries, as noted by that scholar (Une incantation, 12 f.), appear likewise
1
in these bowls.
The 3 is a large letter dropping its shaft obliquely below the line and
39, D has the later form, similar to the Arabic <j*; with others, the body
is fuller, approximating the p. y is
generally an angle lying upon the line,
but in No. 39 it drops below the two rough curving lines. B has
line, in
a large head, but does not drop below the line. V is not found in these
1
Compare now the early Mandaic amulet published by Lidzbarski in the de
Vogue Memorial Volume, p. 349, and the editor's notes, p. 350. His facsimiles are
too indistinct to permit satisfactory comparison.
(37)
38 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
literation) occurs at the beginning of No. 38, and is then dropped by the
scribe ;
itmay perhaps be intended in one or two other cases in these
bowls. Otherwise it cannot be distinguished from x however, following ;
MSS., except that the vertical stroke at the left hand is often written
without attachment to the first part. It always appears as a separate word,
as is the case in Codex B of Petermann's edition of the Ginza, and
apparently in Lidzbarski's bowls. I have followed the common editorial
use of attaching it, like the Aramaic relative in general, to the following
word. See the arguments of Noldeke, Mand. Gram-, 92, for regarding the
tion di had survived until the formation of the Mandaic script. In these
texts, as in the MSS., the relative when internal (e. g. after l) is expressed
by "i; but this does not prove that n = 1 , only that with the support of
a preceding vowel the vowel of the relative was rejected.
The characters are spaced unevenly and in the case of unligated char-
acters it is often difficult to ascertain with which word they are to be
combined. The ligation is haphazard, there is no consistent attempt at
the Mandaeans had elaborated their own alphabet with its peculiarities.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 39
formal, in the sparse or varying use of the matres lectionis.' I may cite :
NDN'jrn, Kor6n; xmaj;, "y\ NV; N'n; snonn, KJVIBJ, where later x
was used in the first or second syllable or both ; we actually find snnt,
4
'Kt, 'Sir.
B. The Language
particle "I, the suffix itself creating a kind of construct case-ending, the
published by the writer in JAOS, 1911, see note there, p. 278. In 40: 24
such a "construct"' form in n is used before a plural noun : nnx'JKVn rtJX'3'3.
Apart from the references to "Life," these bowls are not specifically
Mandaic in religion. Pognon's bowls are much more colored with Mandae-
ism. Under No. 1 1 it is to be observed that the Mandaic text there
*
Une incantation, 13.
*
Which Pognon strangely enough regards as "errors."
'
Xoldeke's expert judgment, in his review of Pognon, p. 143, that the language
of the bowls is later than that of the Mandaic classics, may be noted here.
III. THE MAGIC OF THE TEXTS
generally given up. Layard objected that then the inscriptions would have
been effaced by the liquid,' which argument, though repeated by subse-
quent scholars, is not conclusive, for the magic vessel may have been
preserved as itself a permanent prophylactic. Layard himself thought
that they were used and were charms for the dead,
in places of sepulture
houses, and in no case is a bowl intended for the service of the dead.
1
Schwab argued for the hydromantic use of the bowls. He makes
reference to Babylonian hydromancy,' and proceeds to quote a number of
1
Rodwell expatiates on this kind of magic, TSBA, ii, 114.
'
Layard, Nineveh and Babylon, 511. Cf. R. C. Thompson, Semitic Magic, pp.
Iv, Ixi.
*
Of. cit., 526.
*
Inscriptions mandaites, nos. 5, 7, etc., and p. 3.
'
PSBA, xii, 292 f.
*
Cf. Hunger, "Becherwahrsagung bei d. Babyloniern," 1903 in Leip:iger Seinit-
ische Studien, i.
(40)
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 41
ability to confine demons in vases, etc., and the parallel fables in Arabian
10
lore of bottled up jinns, etc. As we shall immediately see, this is the cor-
rect explanation.
Pognon did not himself see in situ the large collection of bowls which
'
Finally, one of the Pennsylvania texts demonstrates that this was the >
conscious purpose of the bowl magic. No. 4 opens thus : byohl '^B'O
'
For the correction of his hydromantic interpretation of I'WD f\iV3, see above
3.
*
ZA, viii, 325, quoting from the book Raziel, 32.
*
Sur une vase judeo-babylonien, 137 f.
10
Comparing Thousand and One Nights, ed. Bulak, i, 15 (= Burton's tr. i, 38).
u
Explorations, 447.
42 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
'Ji KnK3 'nil i>3! pe>np PN^D= "covers to hold in sacred (accursed)
12
angels and evil spirits," etc. The same inscription announces to the
demons that they are "bound and sealed in each one of the four corners
of the house."" This magical method in fact gives a special name to the
bowls; it is called a KB^S, which literally means a "press." The same term
appears in opens as follows 'Ji 'Te6 pr6 pe>33T NKOO
No. 6, which :
"a press which pressed down upon demons," etc. The theme is continued
is
throughout the text: "This press I press down upon them" (1. 4) "who ;
ever transgresses against this press" (1. n), etc. In a word we have to do
with a species of sympathetic magic, the inverted bowls symbolizing and
The quadruple use of the bowls also explains the frequent recurrence
of identical inscriptions, e. g. Nos. 21, 22, 23, all made out for the same
client. The four charms thus placed at equidistant points, which as
cornerstones represented the security of the house, formed a circle of
5
under the pavement of the house. Botta, Layard and George Smith dis-
covered under the pavement of buildings small receptacles in which were
16
placed magical figurettes, of composite human and animal form. The use
of the circular lip of the bowl is also in line with the magic circle which
appears to have been practised by sprinkling a circle of lime, flour, etc.
12
See the commentary to the text.
M
The binding at the four corners of the house appears also in Pognon, B, nos.
i, 2, 3, 4, 24.,
14
If my interpretation of the introduction of Nos. 9 and 14 be correct, we
have also a reference to the formal depositing of the bowls.
15
Cf. the cylinder and prism texts deposited at the four corners of great
buildings in ancient Mesopotamia.
"
Botta, Monument de Nineve, v, 168 f. ; Layard, Nineveh and its Remains, ii,
37; Smith, Assyrian Discoveries, 78. See Fossey, La magie assyrienne, 114 f. For
a like Jewish and Christian use, see Reitzenstein, Poimandres, 30.
11
Zimmern, Beitrdge z. Kenntniss d. bob. Religion, 169, no. 54, and cf. Thompson,
Semitic Magic, p. Ixiii, translating usurtu "circle" (Zimmern, "Gebilde"). Cf. the
charm with a circle made by a ring presented in the Papyrus Anastasi, Wessely,
Vienna Denkschriften. hist-phil. Classe, xxxvi. 2, p. 34, and further PSBA, xiii, 165.
The circle of the magical seal possessed the same efficacy.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 43
But there is proof that the praxis of bowl magic existed in ancient
Babylonia. In a passage of the magical Utukki series presented by
1S
Thompson, we read a ban on an evil spirit: (a demon) "which roameth
loose in an upper chamber, with a bason (kakkultu) without opening may
they cover it." The editor in his note has recognized the form of magic
19
indicated, without comparing it to the later bowls.
thresholds (e.g. 6: 4), frequently appears in our texts, as also in the Talmud,
spirits (e. g. 37: 2). The means of entrance are extravagantly detailed in
22
a Babylonian text: by gate, door, bolt, etc., lintels, hinges, etc.; and door
23
and bolt and threshold are exorcised. The bedchamber is the special
object of care, and the endorsement on No. 12, "of the room of the hall,''
cate inscriptions were made out, some for the house and some for the
magical art it could be translated "the cup of the sorcerers and not the cup of
:
those who break sorcery," i. e. of bowls used for malicious (cf. 12) or for
preventive magic. Tanhuma makes the second cup mean an ill-prepared brew which
is ground for divorce; see Levy, Hwb., iv, 1513.
M 66.
Denkschriften, xlii, 2, p.
21
Was there a duplicate buried in the house?
" u. where the full translation
Jastrow, Religion Babyloniens Assyriens, i, 377,
is given.
* E.
g. Tallquist, Maqlu, p. 93, 1. 10; Thompson, Devils, ii, 123.
44 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
graveyard ;
this would explain the reference to the four corners of the
house in Pognon, nos. I, 2, etc. None of the Nippur bowls are so marked.
The tradition of this species of bowl-magic has lasted down into Islam,
to fairly modern times. In his Monument arabes, persons ct litres, Paris,
1828, Reinaud has given (ii, 337 ff.) a careful description of several Arabic
magical bowls of brass and glass, contained at his day in private French
collections and at the Vatican. They are talismans (to quote one of the
bowls) against snakes, scorpions and dogs, against fever,' pangs of child-
* 2
birth and maladies of nursing, enteric diseases, sorcery and dysentery.
They are introduced "in the name of the merciful and compassionate God"
(cf. the similar formula in our texts, e. g. 3 : i and note), and are elaborately
provided with quotations from the Koran and with references to holy
legend and the power of God (cf. n). One reference indicates that
they were inscribed at the propitious astrological moment, cf. below, II.
31
E. g. the Cypriote charms published by Miss L. Macdonald, PSBA, xiii, 159,
and the Hadrumetum tablet, discussed in No. 28.
25
See Blau, Das altjiidische Zauberwesen, 87, and "Amulet" in Jewish Encyc.
" So in Schwab L and Q charms against dog-bites, and a reference to scorpions
is found in Pognon B see Glossary C, J. v. 31pJ?
; .
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 45
"This blessed bowl wards off all poisons, and in it are assembled tried
virtues; and it is for the sting of the serpent and the scorpion, for fever,
for dysentery (?), for indigestion, for the mad dog, for stomachache and
colic, for headache and throbbing, for fever of the liver and spleen, for
facial contortions, for lack of blood (insufficient blood supply), for
annulling magic, and for the eye and the sight, and for use in giving to
drink of water or oil, or for harm to enemies and for poison in the conclave
of (two) lands, when the imams of the religion and the orthodox caliphs
are thereon agreed for the advantage of the Muslims."
name of Rabbi Joshua ben Perahia (Syriac, Rab Jesus bar P.), who is
none other than one of the early Zugoth or Pairs who handed down the
Tradition from the Great Synagogue to later ages (see to No. 32).
Whether this magical tradition concerning the venerable Joshua be
3
authentic may be dubious; but the case is illustrative of the tendency in
magic to appeal to ancient great masters of sorcery, and to use their names
as though their full powers were possessed. We may compare the many
references in the magical papyri to such ancient masters, whose spells
4
have become the stock in trade of their successors. The assumption of
these quacks is well illustrated by a Jewish mortuary charm in which the
magician thus introduces himself: "With the wand of Moses and the plate
of Aaron and the seal of Solomon and the shield of David and the mitre
1
For the Babylonian asipu and masniasu, see Zimmern, Beitrage, 91 ; Thompson,
Semitic Magic, 21.
*
Nos. 8, 9, 17, 32, 33, 34.
*
For the Talmudic doctors and others who practised "legitimate" magic, see
Blau, Das altjiidische, Zauberwesen, 23. In 34: 2 the sorcerer claims to be a
"cousin" of Joshua and there is reference to his "house," i. e. school in 8: II.
Compare the inherited magical powers of Choni the Circle-maker, Taan., igb, 23.
*
See the list of such magical authorities in Wessely, Vienna Denkschriften,
xxxvi, 2, p. 37; cf. xlii, 2,10 (I shall hereafter refer to these volumes simply as
p.
xxxvi and xlii). Also Apuleius gives a similar list, including Moses, xc, 100, 1. 10
(ed. see Abt, "Die Apologie des Apuleius," 244, in Dieterich and Wiinsch,
Helm),
Religionsgeschichtliche Versuche v. Vorarbeiten, iv, 2.
(46)
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 47
of the chief priest" (I perform this spell) ;' and this Palestinian charm
has its parallel in our text No. 2: "I Pabak come, clad in iron and fire,
become the essential element (see n), and like a physician's prescription
might be copied by anyone, or even invented for along with the belief
"
Montgomery, JAOS, IQH, 272. For the identification with Moses cf. the
Hermetic phrase, tyu ei/tt Mutxnfo, Wessely, xxxvi, 129, 1. 109 ff. also see Dieterich, ;
Abraxas, 68, and Reitzenstein, Poimandres, 279. For the Egyptian use, cf. the Harris
papyrus, "I am Amon," Brugsch, Religion u. Mythologie d. alt. Aegypter, 725. Or
the sorcerer may identify himself with some mighty demon; e. g. Gift., 6ga, "I am
Papi Shila son of Sumka," cf. Blau, op. cit. 83. Also cf. 27 9 with 2 6. : :
'
Dieterich, /. c.
T
Tallquist, p. 37. Cf. the commission of the Old Testament prophets, e. g. Jer.
professional magicians or not rather laymen who felt they could make a
attestation of the incantation, inserted into the middle of the text." The
obscure passage is : mis jrjn* N3H px ^ 3TO Kim NO'p . It may be
translated: "It is correct for it has been written for me (or 'p
=
-
sjj'Dp?),
we recognize it here." Cf. the attestations of the scribe in the Babylonian
'
ZA, ix, 36.
io. THE CLIENTS
etc. Frequently it is the wife and mother who procures the charm, with or
without reference to the husband. In many of the inscriptions there is
special intention against the evils that disturb the domestic sexual life.
specified (
K33C"O JT3). There is frequent reference to the demons that
slay the unborn babes (e. g. Nos. 36, 37), the charm is often made out for
the children that shall be, as well as for those that are. It would seem that
where women are concerned, the greater part of magic has to do with the
mysteries and maladies of the sexual life. The Lilis and Liliths which
predominate in the categories of demons are personifications of sexual
abnormalities.
names, which is enlarged by the required naming of the mother, more rarely
1
the father of the client. In the Rabbinic texts we find the Aramaic names
1
Shabb. 66b KO'in tmvz 'J"JD hs: "all repetitive incantations are in name of the
:
mother." The "sacred" name of a person includes that of his mother with the
Mandaeans (Brandt. Mand. Religion, 116). The same rule appears in the Greek
magic; see Wunsch Antike Fluchtafeln (Lietzmann's Kleine Texte, no. 20), p. 9 for
examples and literary references. The practice is now attributed to the original
(49)
50 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
might lead us to think that the clients were non- Jewish. The argument
is somewhat Jews by no means stickled for their native
fallacious as the
names, have
in fact adopted foreign names with great avidity." And
seem to
so in one family of nine souls the names are Persian, and only one son bears
a Jewish name (No. 12). But as we shall have reason to conclude ( 15),
the magic of our bowls is so eclectic that even a "Jewish"-Aramaic text
does not imply a Jewish exorcist, nor Jewish clients. We have to think
of a clientele partly Jewish, partly non- Jewish, to which the religious
affinities of the magic were indifferent.
But the power of the charms is also extended beyond the actual house
and its inmates so as to include the whole property of the client. Not only
are house and mansion detailed, but also the cattle and possessions in
matriarchal condition of society rather than to the elder principle, pater incertus,
mater certa. Naming of the father probably occurs where the mother is unknown;
for instances see to 10: I.
1
See Glossary B ;
also Pognon, B, p. 97.
'
See Zunz. "Die Namen d. Juden," in his Gesammelte Abhandlungen, ii.
4
Reitzenstein, Poimandres, 294; such charms are frequent in the Graeco-Italian
exorcisms published by Pradel, in Religionsgeschichtliche Versuche u. Vorarbeiten,
iii, no. 3. For amulets worn by cattle, see Blau, Das altjiidische Zauberwesen, 86.
ii. THE INCANTATIONS.
I have discussed in
8 the particular praxis of our magic the inver-
sion of the inscribed bowl. There remain for consideration many details,
for elaborateness is magic and even in our comparatively
characteristic of
simple field there are many phenomena which are suggestive links binding
it with more complicated magical science.
(iepof) Uyof.'So in Latin facere is the word for the operation, and it
has had an interesting history through factura, fattura, feitigo (Portuguese),
into fetich.
The same distinction and similar terms are found in our magic. The
root lay, "work, serve"" (late Hebrew ntry (cf. 14: i), nB>y) is used of
4
the practice. It is the common root also for the service, the worship of the
gods in West-Semitic, and this fact illustrates the parity, often equivalence
of religion and magic. Hence the technical terms snay ('abdda),
I
Budge, Egyptian Magic, 26 f .
II
E. g. in the Labartu texts, Myhrman, ZA, xvi, 141.
1
For the first two words see indexes in Wessely's two volumes in the Denk-
schriften; for xp c a Dieterich Abraxas, pp. 136, 160. All three words occur close
~'
,
together in Dieterich's text p. 204 f. For referf (Dieterich, p. 136) the Kno^B-K =
of our texts, see 12.
*
Cf. Latin, colo, cultus. This Hebrew-Aramaic root is more religious than
epesu, etc., with its idea of service. N. b. Arabic umra, used of the cult at Mecca,
Wellhausen, Skizzen, iii, 165.
4
A magical connotation of this root may exist in Is. 28: 2: nnsj imaj? najA
, where the divine operation is contrasted to the magic arts of the necromancers.
(51)
52 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
technically by Krnp, once xnpn ^p m 16: 10, = the Greek ;-//>/?/<? (also
?.i?<nf ) used both in magic arts and also in the Christian liturgy (in
6
baptism, eucharist, exorcisms), though as we shall see, most of these
words came to be regarded as part of black magic and were avoided by
our exorcists. The incantation as written is called a xn3TO and by the
ing verb rlO a more frequent equivalent is yx> Afel. Once he uses
; ,
the root *|BN : KDn NBC"N3 XiS'^S, 2: 3. But his favorite terminology for
his own
practice derived from IDS, "bind," exactly equivalent to the
is
Greek Karaieiv, Latin dcfigcrc; the charm is an tOD'S, XilD'S Also the .
'
For inaPSJ and the Syriac use see Noldeke, Z. f. d. Keils.-forsch., iii, 296, and
Frankel, Z/4, ix, 308. A frequent attributive is M'pn.
*
After summing up the various terms used for exorcism Heitmtiller concludes,
iKiKal.tladai TO
in his"1m Namen Jesu," p. 212: "Der Ausdruck KOT' e^o X!/v ist bvopa.
Our word nnp is the liturgical equivalent in the Syriac for epiklesis.
I
See 32: 4, and Kent's discussion in JAOS, 1911, 359-
*
The original use of this word (= " AETV/ ) appears in its designation of black
arts; see 12.
' etc.
Cf. the modern fine distinctions between magic, sorcery, witchcraft,
10
See Davies, Magic Divination and Demonology, 55, as against W. R. Smith's
view in Journ. of Philology, xiv, 123.
II
Friedr. Delitzsch, in Baer and Delitzsch' text, p. xiii.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 53
The rude figures and designs which can hardly be said to adorn the
bowls are part of the praxis. They come down from the earlier and more
realistic age when gods and demons were represented by simulacra and
18
in this wise were manipulated so as to do the sorcerer's will. Most of the
panoply of God," Eph. 6: 13), and involves the breaking of counter charms and
wiles of the devils: ipy, fnt?, lett, TO, 'jcn, WB.IBT, etc.; ssvtt, "lay a spirit" ; B>33, etc.
In the Talmud 1B>B is the technical opposite to 1D; Blau, op. cit., 157.
" In No. 12 is a bit of rubric for forming a figure of an angel see the com- ;
" describes how as far back as the third millennium in Egypt pictures
Budge
came to be used in place of material objects in the magic of the dead (op. cit., 107).
54 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
TDX , etc., to use the words of the incantation." Especially the liliths are
so represented, e. g. No. 8, but also there are masculine figures like the
caterpillar-like designs are intended to "raise the hair" as did the demons
20
of elder Babylonia.
In one specimen, No. 15, the figure is the design of the serpent with
its tail in its mouth. This is surely of Egyptian origin, doubtless through a
Hellenistic medium. Such a figure is described in the "Book of Apep," of
21
Ptolemaic compilation, and prescriptions for drawing this magical figure
22
are found in the Greek papyri. Very common so in the Syriac bowls
is a circle with a cross in it; or the circle is divided into segments with a
cross in each. These signs probably represent the magical seal. There
also occur rough rectangular figures divided into compartments, represent-
2*
ing the walls of protection which magic casts about the client. Wessely
gives a facsimile of such a magical design:" a square within a square, the
former being divided into three compartments; I suppose after the plan of
a double-walled and many-chambered castle, indicating the protective char-
acter of the charm.
"
Cf. the operation performed on the figure of the Labartu, Myhrman, op. cit.,
150. For
Palestine, see the figurettes found in the Seleucidan debris of Tell Sanda-
hannah, in Bliss and Macalister, Excavations in Palestine, 154. For Egyptian usage,
e. g. Budge, op. cit., 83.
20
See the description in Myhrman, p. 148; also the seven evil Utukki, Thompson,
Devils, tablet 16, and ii, p. 149.
*
Budge, op. cit., 79, 83.
a
Wessely, xlii, 39 f., 69. The like design appears in a bowl depicted by
Hilprecht, Explorations, opposite p. 447. Within the circle so formed are a number
of magical figures, the most elaborate that appear in the bowls. The specimen is
presumably at Constantinople.
23
For similar sympathetic magic in old Babylonia, see Jastrow, op. cit., i, 303.
24
Ibid. 64.
*
Pauly-Wissowa, Real-Encyc., "Defixio," col. 2373 Thompson, Sem. Magic, ;
17. For modern instances of this kind of sorcery, see Elworthy, The Evil Eye, 53.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 55
One detail of universal magic appears in the praxis of our bowls : the
calendar Nisan was the day of Destinies, the Jewish New Year's day in
i
Tishri has the same character, and compare the magic time of midsummer
28
night and the Christmas season in more modern superstition. In old
Babylonia certain days were propitious for exorcism, and they are listed,
as personified, in aSurpu text, among them the 7th, I5th, iQth, 2Oth, 25th,
3Oth, of the month. We have fuller information of this notion from Egypt
2"
;
papyri are preserved giving all the days in the year according to their
30
character as propitious or unpropitious for magical rites. The same use
of seasons appears in the Hellenistic papyri, those continuators of
"
Thompson, Devils, p. xlix, and instances pp. 23, in, 197. Compare the
religious use of the barefma, a bunch of datepalm, pomegranate or tamarisk, in the
Persian religion; Spiegel, Eranische Alterthiimer, iii, 571. Thompson in his note
draws attention to our design.
" with references.
Wohlstein, p. 399,
a (on Die Tage-
See Carl Schmidt, Aberglaube des Mittehlters, 1884, 205 ff.
wahlerei).
x Cf. the exorcism of a demon at full moon, in
Zimmern, tablet viii, 24 ff.
**
Budge, op. cit., 224 ff. Gods of the Egyptians, ii, c. xix, for lists of the deities
;
of times and seasons. The earliest appearance of this system among the Jews is
the angelic calendar system in Enoch, 82.
56 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
This is exactly the equivalent of the passage cited above, 6:5: NQ1*
gravity I shall touch upon in 15. In the bowls the incantation, the spell,
is almost the all in all. It consisted in the utterance or writing of certain
81
Wessely, xxxvi, 53, 1. 341 ff. My colleague Professor Heffern sagaciously
notes the illumination thus cast upon the difficult reference in Rev. 9: 15 to the
angels appointed for an hour, day, month, year the verse is reminiscent of magical ;
phraseology. Note also the phrase, "in a good hour and a good and auspicious
day," in the Paris Magical Papyrus, 1. 3000 (given by Deissmann, Light from the
Ancient East, 251, 255).
11
Wessely, xxxvi, 92, 1. 1932 ff. = xlii, 42, 1. 665 ff. N. B. the like stress laid
upon "this day" in the Babylonian exorcisms, e. g. 5r/>-series, iv, 1. 65.
"
Wiinsch, Antike Fluchtafeln, no. 3, 1. 20.
"
The conscious manipulation of words, phrases, pronunciations to extract their
magical sense, appears in g: 5 = 32 : 6.
* Even as in earlier times the images of the gods were used e. g. Fossey, La ;
tnagie assyrienne, 315. The magical value of the use of the name in religious rites
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 57
along with the appeal to some one Name;" the former is the Jewish phase
of polytheism, while even with polytheistic adjurations there may be
recognition of "God," as in the pagan text No. 19 with its reference to "the
one true God," 1.
17. Noticeable is the easy passage from the invocation
of celestial beings into that of mere names or words ;
but this illustrates
the arrant nominalism into which magic had fallen, losing the religious
has been established in late years by a series of discussions from scholars working
in various fields. I name: K. Nyrop, Navnets magt ("the power of the name"),
'In Namen Jesu,' Gottingen, 1903 (especially Part II). Cf. also, on the use of the
name, Jacob, "Im Namen Gottes," Vierteljahrsschrift f. Bibelkunde, i (1903), Heft
i seq. (which I have not seen in full) J. Boehmer, Das biblische
;
'Im Namen,'
Giessen, 1898. (on the philological origins of the baptism formula) ; and an essay
by W. Brandt, ""Ovofia en de doopsformule in het nieuwe testament," Theol. Tijd-
schrift, 1891.
**
For the adjuration of angels in Judaism, see Heitmiiller, op. cit., 176 ff.
87
See 13.
"
According to Budge, Egyptian Magic, 180, originally the name of a form of
the sungod; according to Wiedemann, Magie u. Zauberei (D. Alte Orient, vii, 4), p.
23, the Egyptians from of old worshipped as god "the Magical Formula."
" name
Cf. the early and frequent use of the Jesus in the papyri magic; and cf.
Acts 19: 13. For Jesus as a sorcerer in the Talmud, see Blau. op. cit. 29.
" See Inscr. mand., 107. In 34: 19 he is "mighty lord."
Pognon,
58 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
barbarous spellings for the patriarchs : A/ipaav, lanov, lapaa/i ." These are
specimens of eclectic magic pagan and Jewish elements, overlaid
with
43
with Christian. It is in this eclectic character of our texts, as in all so-
called Jewish magic, that they part company from the old Babylonian magic
and relate themselves to occidental conjuration.
God." Both Jewish and pagan magic agreed in requiring the accumulation
of as many names of the deity or demon as possible, for fear lest no one
name exhaust the potentiality of the spiritual being conjured. The aggre-
gation of divine epithets in the Old Testament, as also in the Christian
the names if possible; the fifty names of Marduk, the hundred names of
45
Allah, are similar cases. In the Babylonian magic and also in the
4'
Egyptian this practice was established. For Hellenic magic may be cited
41
Wessely, xxxvi, 75, 1. 1227. Cf. the list of invocations in a "Christian" amulet:
Adonai, Thodonael (= Toth -f- Adonael), Sabaoth, Emanuel, the holy angels, etc.
(Reitzenstein, Poiitiandres, 293).
43
For the text and literature see to No. 28.
" I suppose the formula read originally "in the name of the God of Abraham,"
:
etc. See Heitmuller, op. cit., p. 180 for the invocation of the patriarchs, etc. Origen
(c. Cels, iv, 35 ) appears to admit its efficacy.
44
Cf. the Gaonic maxim that there are many things in which the angels are
independent of God, Blau, op. cit., 92 with which contrast the notion of the ephe-
;
meral existence of the angels who proceed from the Dinur of God Weber, Jiid. ;
Theologie, 166, Eisenmenger, Entdecktes Judenthum, ii, 371 all but Michael and
Gabriel according to a dictum of Bereshith R. (Lueken, Michael, 39). For the
equivalent efficiency of divine and angelic names see the magical text, The Sword of
Moses, published by Gaster, 1806.
45
Jastrow, Religion Babyloiiiens u. Assyriens, i, 291.
"
Budge, op. cit., 171.
47
Wiinsch. Ant. Fluchtafeln, 6.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 59
of divine names there lurks the uncertainty whether they are names of
one being, or, as so many potencies, names of as many beings. This con-
fusion appears in the parallel texts under No. n, where the second
(Myhrman's text) turns the three names of the Jewish God in the first
into a polytheistic trinity. But except in the case of accumulated magical
"barbarous names" of Greek magic, the Deity is not in our
syllables, the
texts given many names; this is due to the fact that the reference to the
Deity is not much more than a passing compliment. However the names
of the demons must be exactly known, and especially is it the Lilith who
receives an extravagant accumulation of designations ; she is akin to Hekate
and the "Hekatian names" are showered upon her. For the demoniac
names I refer to 12.
magic," and hence it was reflected to the Jewish sorcery, the Talmud
abundantly illustrating the use of these barbarica onomata.'" One primitive
source of this usage is the mystery which is thrown about magic rites "the ;
wizards that squeak and gibber" (Is. 8: 19) are universal; the Babylonian
priest generallywhispered his formulas (cf. the title masmasu) the solemn ;
See Heitmiiller, of. cit. 197 ff. Abt, Apuleius, 152. For the Ephesia gramniata,
51
;
ble term. Much of the later nonsense was the survival of phrases of the
5*
lost tongue in which the charms had their rise. Such a part may have
been played by Sumerian phrases in later Babylonia, and the great western
sorcerer Apuleius recognizes the origins of his magical lingo as magica
nomina Aegyptio vel Babyloniaco ritu and the Hellenistic sorcerer is
Said to alymTtafctv.
Some of the phrases are still intelligible, such as Bin, "quick" (off with
you), with abundant parallels in the Babylonian and the Greek magic (the
55
repeated Ta^), also brief imperatives, as Jfl, nr, or nt, from yyt, etc.,
are very frequent; in Pognon's texts & (sh) is often inserted between
56
words. May we compare the hissing implied by the ancient Hebrew
sorcery terms, Er6 and BTI3 ?
Many such syllables or letters are surrogates for the divine name nirp,
which especially lent itself to this treatment." So we find the changes rung
on this word: "', nv, irp, nj?nx, etc. Or abbreviations are used like
58
the repeated N, == CPR^M ^X 'nx; in 20: 2 it is extravagantly repeated six
times, in 31 : 8 eight times. In irvnn', 31 :
6, we have a play on the three
Then there enters in the use of the principle of Athbash, in all its
various e.forms,
g. ]'SSD (Stiibe, 1. 66) nirp. Such prima facie =
unintelligible forms themselves became corrupted in course of time perhaps ;
MS MS, PS PS, 14: 2, are from the former theme. Probably too the
"
Abt, Apuleius, 152.
55
See to 14: 4.
M In
our texts cf. i: 13, 3: 5, 14: 2, 25: 5, 29: 10.
"
For extensive magical formulas based on the Name, see Nos. 3, 6, 31, 35. I
itan usage. In one case it is vocalized in a proper name, rvaira'ia, 36: 4, q. v. The
reminiscence of the ancient pronunciation survived in the lower classes and certain
sects, e. g. among the Samaritans, and in magic, cf. the forms Ia/fr, etc.
J. A. MONTGOMERY -ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 61
59
principle of (mathematical) gematria may be supposed, of old standing
60
in Judaism, but also found in the theosophy and current use of the
61
Greeks. The passage in 9: 5 f. which speaks of "letter out of letters,
35 5." Both assonance and rhyme are found in the western magic e. g.
:
;
64
avpe ovpoe iravKtorq <$<j(fr/c<z/a<TTv;.
TOVTO 65
}'pa0f :
f/f Qvptrj/.,
use of sacred scriptures, the epics, legends of the people, and the citation
of appropriate precedents. Babylonian, Egyptian, Jew, Greek, each had
his thesaurus of sacred legend, which age had consecrated as veritable
words of Deity and hence in themselves potent." These are "the ancient
runes," K'Olp NTS?, of 32: 9."
quotations from the legend of Ura the pest-god ;" and there are other traces
of the use of epic myth in the Babylonian magic. In the same way that
portion of the Book of the Dead known as "The Chapters of the Coming
Forth of the Day," largely consisting of myth, and the Legend of Ra and
Isis, were used in Egypt as magical texts." In the Greek magic we have
the prophylactic and divinatory use of the Homeric verses. Nor were
the Jews behind their neighbors, with their fast fixed canon of sacred
spirit, "YHWH rebuke thee, Satan," in Zech. 3:2. A few of the bowls
published by Schwab, G (exterior),'
4
H, K, O, are mostly or largely
" Cf.
Is. 55: n.
88
For 'V, cf. eirwAai carmina, incantamenta, etc. of occidental magic.
, Cf. the
use of the same root in Arabic 'If in Ju. 5 12 has this sense.
; :
"
King, ZA, xi, 50; Fossey, op. cit., 105; Jastrow, op. cit. i, 285; Thompson, Sem.
Magic, 83.
70
Jastrow, op. cit., i, 363.
71
Budge, op. and p. 141 for remarks on this magic.
cit. 125, 137,
n See
Heim, "Incantamenta magica graeca latina," in Fleckeisen's Jahrbiicher,
as in n. 66 and Wessely, xlii, 2 ft.
Cf. Eze. g: 4, Is. 44: 5, Gal. 6: 17, Rev. 13: 16 f., etc. The practice was con-
tinued into Talmudic times, Sabb. I2ob, etc.; see Blau, op. cit., 119.
74
PSBA, xii, 327.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 63
Jewish magic. Biblical and of good magical tradition is the use of Amen
(generally twice or thrice repeated), Selah," Halleluia. These are also
used in Talmudic charms, e. g. Yoma 843. :
"kanti, kanti, kaloros, Yah, Yah,
YHWH, Sabaoth, Amen, Amen, Selah." The magical Halleluia recalls the
1
TO ak'kekovia. nal TO evayychiov.*
But this use of scripture is not such as we should expect to find from
any Jew even moderately versed in the Old Testament. The spelling is
" For
power approved by the Talmud, see Blau,
biblical verses of prophylactic
op. tit., 93 f., and his article "Amulets," in Jewish Encyc.; also Kayser, "Gebrauch
70 f.,
von Psalmen zu Zauberei," ZDMG, xlii, 456, presenting a Syriac MS. containing
the Psalm verses useful in magic and divination. For the use of Psalms (especially
Ps. 91) in the late Italian magic, see Pradel, Griechische u. suditalienische Gebete, 69.
" On this
practice in Jewish magic, called JHBB, see Blau, op. cit., 85 the practice ;
reversed the hostile charm. With the attempt at disguising the plain meaning, cf.
the intentional confusion of lines in a Greek defixio, published in Wiinsch, Antike
Fluchtafeln, no. 4.
" A formula recommended in the Talmud, Berak. sa.
" This modern studies
magical use of Selah is not, I think, noticed in the several
of the word. It appears also as Sa/lo on an Abraxas gem, Diet, d'archeologie
chretienne, i, 144.
Cf. Blau, op. cit., 94 f.
82
not Massoretic, the quotations are not exact. There are but two references
to thesupreme history of the Exodus, 14 2, 34 4, and the latter is : :
confused. In the Greek papyri there is far more citation of the sacred
history; cf. the "Jewish" text of the Great Magical Papyrus at Paris, pub-
83
lished most recently by Deissmann. This contains a brief summary of
God's great acts for Israel, although the crossing of the Jordan precedes
the passage of the Red Sea." The "Judaism" of our bowls is often less
than that of the papyri."
Leviathan, Sodom, Gomorra" 54:4, "the seal with which were charmed
the Seven Stars and the Seven Signs"; 10: 3, 5, "the seal with which the
First Adam sealed his son Seth," or "with which Noah sealed the ark" ;"
assurance of present magical help. "My two hands lie upon this child, the
two hands of Isis lie upon him, even as Isis laid her two hands upon her
son Horus." "O Isis, save me .... even as thou didst save thy son
87
Horus." And so in the Greek papyri the adjuration is often by the won-
derful works of the God of Israel, which are regarded as spells ;
see the
**
I cannot agree with Blau, p. no, that this paraphrasing and variation in
was intentional magic which perpetuated the pronunciation of
scriptural quotation ;
the Great Name would not have hesitated at using the exact words of scripture.
The quotations have often come through eclectic mediums.
".Light from the Ancient East, 250 ff.
"*
Talmudic charm against the toothache, Sabb. 673., in which portions
Cf. the
of the pericope of the Bush were recited Blau, op. cit., 69. ;
*
Cf. "the seal which Solomon laid on the tongue of Jeremia," in the great
Magical Papyrus, 1. 3039, Deissmann, Light, p. 257; which has its parallel in the charm
with which Enoch's brothers charmed him, 3: 4.
"
Wiedemann, Magie u. Zauberei bet den alien Aegyptern, 1905, 22, 26.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 65
days of eternity, and their feet are not seen in the dances by the world,
and they sit and stand in their place, blowing like the blast, lightening like
the lightning." beneficent Annunaki ! These passages, reminiscent both
of the Apocalypse and the later kabbalistic literature, are recited with
8*
magical intent. An important part of magic was the epic of the god
and the praise of compare the insertion of the Hermetic Koofioiroiia
his glory;
in the Leyden magical papyrus, and the epic of the attack of the rebel
spirits against the gods in the i6th tablet of the Utukku series. The story
of the god's power or the praise of his glory were "words of power" against
10
the fiends.
family, and then the categories of detested demons and ills. Then follow
the various Names in which the spells are invoked. Noticeable is the
frequent repetition of the same form, even three or more times (e. g. No.
3). This insipid use has its parallel in the Karatea/iot ;
cf. the examples in
Wiinsch. op. cit., nos. 3, 4, 5, where with slight changes the exorcism is
" Cf. the amulet in Reitzenstein, Poimandres, 294, where the ranks of the
celestial hierarchy are enumerated as standing by the great and lofty Deity.
* Herodotus notices the use of a theogony or divine
Dieterich, Abraxas, 182.
history in the incantation of a magus (i, 132) see in general Conybeare, JQR ix, 93 f.
;
10
Cf. Fossey, and for the western magic, Wiinsch, op. cit., 13.
op. cit., 96;
Scriptural and legendary narratives are found in the Syriac charms published by
Gollancz, Actes du uime Congres International des Orientalistes, 1887, sect, iv, 77.
Cf. also the similar Syriac charms published by W. H. Hazard in JAOS, xv (1893).
284 ff.
66 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
Egyptian magic has disappeared. The spell, the <*>? ^<tyof has suffered
itsreductio ad absurdum, personality human and divine is thrown out of
doors.
12. THE OBJECTS OF EXORCISM; THE DEMONS, ETC.
gods that once were near to men disappeared in the political convulsions
which marked the passing of ancient tribe or city and the domination of
a world-empire, or suffered under the strokes of philosophy and skepticism,
the spirits of were not banished, and the superstition that feeds on the
ill
fears of men, came to occupy the center of the stage of the spiritual drama.
Nor did the rise of the great spiritual religions counteract the tremendous
magical in its rites for overcoming the powers of ill. Jewish monotheism
was too tense, and the cardinal doctrine of the one God was saved by that
unfortunate, though possibly necessary, salvage from antique polytheism,
in the shape of angels and devils who were nearer and more real to man
1
than distant Deity. The Christian Church followed the tuition of her
mother and her pagan converts brought along with them the superstitions
of the Graeco-Roman world; the doctrine of the Incarnation seemed to
embodied demons, and diabolology entered into the formal
entail the foil of
2
Christian theology to an extent unknown in official Judaism.
1
Cf. Bousset, Die Religion des Judentums im neutestamentlichen Zeitalter, 313
ff., 326 ff.
'
For the diabolology of the Hellenistic world, see the works of Heitmiiller,
Reitzenstein,Abt, Tambornino, cited in the previous section also in general P. ;
(67)
68 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
have noticed above the magical efficacy ascribed to naming the names
I
3
of deities and demons ( n). Personal names for demons, it is true,
are not very common ; they are generally epithets or generic terms, e. g.
"the Killer, the Demon, the Satan," etc. One class of demons however
seems always to have enjoyed the privilege of a long list of names which
it was the sorcerer's duty to know and to conjure. This is the female
demon represented in the old Babylonian texts by the Labartu, in the
No. 42 is an exorcism of the evil Lilith and its virtue consists in the
knowledge it gives of her many names I refer to that text for comparative ;
details. Likewise the Labartu has her six (seven?) names, which are to
be carefully pronounced.
4
We may also compare the accumulation of
epithets attached to demons in 2: 2 f., 8: 2, 24: 13, etc., and recall a like
process in the names of Satan in Rev. 9: 11, 12: 9, while Egyptian magic
similarly amassed the names of the demon Apep." Also for further identi-
fication of the demons the names of their parents, or even granddams are
8
given, for every specification enhances the power of the name. Also the
personal description is efficacious, for this indicates that the sorcerer knows
exactly whom he is exorcising. Such magical descriptions sometimes rise
to almost epic tones, as in the delineationof the Seven Spirits in the
'
Cf. also Origen, C. Celsum, i, 24 f., v, 45 f., and the summary of his argument
given by Conybeare, JQR, ix, 65 f.
4
See the opening of the Labartu texts as published by Myhrman, ZA, xvi, 154;
cf. a similar text on an amulet published by Weissbach, Bab. Miscellen, 44.
5
Budge, Egyptian Magic, 171.
6
See below under (i)b.
7
Thompson, Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia, i, 51.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 69
mere registration of categories; this decadent sorcery made up for the lack
of poetical imagination by a mathematical tabulation. Superstition in order
to be comprehensive encyclopaedically accumulated all the terms of evil not ;
only the inherited demoniac categories, but all which new races and faiths
had to offer were gladly accepted. Hence in our texts the naming of the
devils and ills results in the registration of an indefinite number of species.
namely: (i) evil spirits, in the strict sense of the term, as personal beings;
(2) evil agencies, especially the species of black magic, which have been
potentized into almost personal existence; (3) natural evils, especially
physical maladies, but also such mental and moral affections as loss, shame,
etc. which are regarded as instigated by demons, or as themselves evils
This is the order we find generally in our present texts. And it is an-
spirits are named (Utukki, etc.), then "the enchantments, sorceries, witch-
8
crafts," then "sickness." All the three categories do not so often appear in
the Babylonian magic, more frequently those under (2) and (3) are paired,
but here again we find the same order the bans (mamitu) and then the
various human ills.' This order appears also on the whole in the Byzantine
charms published by Vassiliev :" r<i aKa-Sapra irvd'fiara, t/ flaaKavia. fi QapftaKeia f)
This is the natural order of the evolution of magic : first the animistic
fear of demons, then the opposition to mortals who have bound the evil
spirits to their malicious purpose, finally the more exact diagnosis of the
maladies which are specified in secular terms. At the end of the develop-
'
Fossey, La magie assyrienne, 161.
*
E. g. Surpu-series, v, 1. 55 ff., Zimmern, Beitrage z. Kenntniss d. babylon.
Religion, 23.
10
Anecdota graeco-byzantina, i, 332.
11
Wessely, Vienna phil.-hist. Denkschriften, xxxvi, 81, 1. 1443.
70 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
ment this last category may alone remain, as in the Babylonian medical
texts or the modern Jewish and Arabic charms. It may here be remarked
that the never-ending enlargement of categories of evil spirits, apart from
eclectic causes, may be due to Persian influence, although hardly any of
the details can be traced to that source.
(i)
the ancient gods and the spirits still haunting their temples, which the de-
velopment of religion and especially the monotheistic trend had depotentized
and turned into demons. The religion of yesterday becomes the superstition
of to-day. Polytheism died hard. Even with the triumph of the One God
in the Old Testament, there survived the belief in the many deities who
appear as lieutenants of Yahwe, the D'fl^Kn 132 (Job, i), as capable of
disobedience and subject to divine wrath (Gen. 6: i ff., Ps. 82), as the
ment of this theory is found in Mandaism, where the ancient spirits of the
planets have become the chief devils. So also Mohammed reduced the
pagan gods to Jinns.
These discarded deities may therefore head the list of evil potencies,
11
and so we find in 38: 8: and temple-spirits
"Charmed be
all gods (S'n^K)
andshrine-spirits idol-spiritsand
and goddesses (WuonDjr)." The old proper
name of the goddess Istar had already in the Assyrian become a common
and the charms against sun, moon, stars, planets, 34: 6. For other demons
of Mandaic origin" see Pognon's list, Inscriptions Mandaites, 93 ;
to these
unlucky planet Mars, and 11D3N, who here is transformed into an evil
20
genius.
Under this head there is one interesting species, that of demons which
are the spirits of the pagan shrines and simulacra, and so are regarded
21
as haunting them. Again the forceful protest of Second Isaiah, of Ps. 115,
" So Hani u.
istarati, KAT, 180. Cf. Heb. ]NS mntrj?, Dt. 7: 13, etc., of ewes.
Also n. b. Ju. 2 :
13, with Moore's comment.
" For the survival of number
this mystical in Judaism, see Griinbaum, Zeits. f.
Keilschr.-forsch., ii, 222. A list of 50 gods is given in one Babylonian hymn, see
Reisner, Sumerisch-babylonische Hymnen, no. iv, 1. 152 ff. cf. the Sr/>M-series
;
(Zimmern, Beitriige), no. iv, 1. 68 ff., viii, I ff. Sometimes the number alone (6, 10,
15, 60) sufficed by way of abbreviation Jastrow, Rel. Bab. u. Ass., i, 289. In No. 38 ;
are mentioned the 360 broods of evil spirits cf. the 366 Uthras in the Mandaic ;
religion and the 360 gods which Islamic tradition claimed were housed at Mecca.
According to Pesah. nib, seq., a service tree near a city has not less than 60 demons
in it.
"
According to old Semitic use, cf. Mic. 5: 4, Prov. 30: 15 ff. N. B. "the 7 sealers
and the 8 brothers" in the Mandaic amulet published by Lidzbarski in the Florilegium
to de Vogue (1. 7 f.). Cf. 19: 4.
" I Sayce-Cowley's Elephantine papyri, and two Nabataean inscrip-
find nrftx in
tions, see Lidzbarski's glossary also notice the Arabian goddess al-Lat, the ;
=
Babylonian Allat, goddess of the nether-world. For occurrence of rh in Phoenician,
see Baethgen, Beitriige, 58 f.
"
See Brandt, Manddische Religion, 43, n. 2. .
a Mand.
Brandt, ib., 51, 199; Schriften, 184.
*"
For a list of these planetary spirits in the Mandaic cf. Lidzbarski's amulet
just cited, 1. 247 ff.
" Cf.
Origen, C. Celsum, vii, 35 and 64: the localities especially haunted by the
demons are temples and shrines where they can enjoy the incense, blood, etc. Also
72 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
the satire of Bel and the Dragon, had failed; there was a virtue in the
cults and sanctuaries of the old religions. So the ekure appear in our
23
bowls, as in the Mandaic books, as established deities. The word ekurru,
once the name for a temple had already
Assyrian become applied to
in the
Kna'T NHiay t
%
rve>, where as the number 60 shows, xmaj? = jonijtf (cf.
they appear rather far down; e. g. 5: 2, NTVJI 'El new 'ini 'Ttr ; cf.
the Mandaic passage, quoted from the Ginza, in Pognon B, p. 75, where
they occur after the demons, devils, spirits, amulets, liliths, being thus
much reduced in grade. Levy word by Gespensterf in the
translates the
eclectic magic of the time the word may have come to be identified with
tWuAov ,
both phantasm or ghost, and idol.* There is the distinction
in the Talmud the reality of oracles at those shrines is admitted, although explained
apologetically; see the argument in Aboda Z. 553, cited by Joel, Der Aberglaube,
i, p. 86. Cf. I Cor. 10: 28.
22
Brandt, Hand. Schriften, 81.
"
Delitzsch, Ass. Hwb., 21.
"
Reisner, Sum.-bab. Hymnen, iv, 1. 165 Jastrow, op. cit., i, 282. Beth-el ;
appears in the same use in West Semitic: the god Bait-lie, KAT*, 437 f., the name
Bethel-shar-ezer, Zech. 7: 21 and now the many similar names in the new Elephantine
papyri published by Sachau.
*
The word also survived in its original sense, e. g. Pognon, B, no. 13.
* For the
form, see Noldeke, Mand. Gram., 25.
27
2: 7, Lidz. 4, Wohls. 2422: 5.
"
Pogn. B, no. 25, erd.
29
ZDMG, ix, 467, n. 5.
10
The Persian word was early introduced into the Occident. According to one
MS. and Symmachus's testimony (margin of Cod. Marchalianus) iraraxpa (+ ei6o/.a
as gloss) translates the V!-6 8: 21, where the unintelligible varpia is generally
of Is.
found. See Nestle in Transactions of the IXth International Congress of Orientalists,
(1892), ii, 58.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 73
between male and female 'D : Nrronsi nans and Kmpu pmana (Schwab
I).*"
cally, this would be the most fitting etymology for our word; but its pre-
cedence in the lists indicates a higher rank than that assigned to the little
*"
With 'D =r a deity or demon, cf. the use of a-ijfia, "tomb," as grave-demon;
so in a Greek amulet published by Reitzenstein, Poimandres, 293, and see his note 2.
Also in the Syriac nn'JJ, "shrine" comes to mean a god, a false god, and in Peshitto
of I Sa. 7: 3 translates nnntS'jr. In Islam the false gods were called asnam, "idolsj"
* Mand. Gram.,
Cf. Noldeke, Gram. d. neu-syr. Sprache, 6, or 20; cf.
"
See, inter al., Baudissin, Studien z. sem. Religionsgeschichte, ii, 131, and his
art. "Feldgeister," in Hauck's RE*; H. Duhm, Die bosen Geister im Alien Testament,.
74 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
prevailing class of demons ; they are the Sain&vta of the Greek, for which the
85
Peshitto returns to the Jewish term.
"king of demons and devils," with which compare Asmodaeus, the king of
37
the demons. But in these texts his name is given as N31J3, NJNTJUN,
which is found in 19: 10 as name of an evil deity ( b&on 13), while the
plural in the same text, 11. 6, 13, has evidently the meaning demons or
deities. In a broken text (Pognon B. no. 24, 1.
19), a K'TBH K3^O occurs.
In 29: 9 the sed'm are described as SO1D '33, "sons of shadow," cf. the *i?B
of the Targum.
The "spirits" or "evil spirits" ( njn nn, xnt"3 unn, J"t^3 pnn-
40
both masc. and fern.) form a triad with the preceding species. Levy
49, 20; Thompson, Semitic Magic, 43; and the discussions by the students of Assyrio-
logical magic, Zimmern (Beitrdge and KAT*), Tallquist, Jastrow, Fossey. Fossey,
p. 50, quotes IVR 6a, 26, to the effect that the sedu is the demon of the evil eye
another proof that demons and their functions were interchangeable.
"
For these and the following demoniac species in Judaism, see Eisenmenger,
Entdecktes Judentum, ii, 408 ft. Griinbaum, in his admirable "Beitrage z. vergleich-
;
enden Mythologie aus d. Hagada," in ZDMG, xxxi, esp. 271 ff. Weber, Jiidische ;
Theologie, Edersheim, Life and Times of Jesus, ii, 759 ff. Blau, Das
p. 242 ff. ; ;
altjudische Zaubenvesen, 10 ff. Levy, ZDMG, ix, 482 T. Witton Davies, Magic,
; ;
Divination, and Demonology among the Hebrews and their Neighbors (London, n.
d.) the art. "Demonology" in Jewish Encyc.; Conybeare, "Demonology of the New
;
40
Cf. Ellis 5: 4, napai -137.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 75
and Blau regard them as ghosts" but without warrant, as the Rabbinic,
Syriac and Mandaic use of the word shows. They are the -nvti-^a-a -n-muipd or (
The Mazzikin which -are prominent in Jewish lore, where they are
the general category for all demons," appear but seldom.
These devils, demons and evil spirits in their juxtaposition recall the
Indeed the three species are rather tokens of the several sources of our
particular magic, the Hebrew (nil), Babylonian (1^), Persian (NTl).
The only reference to the "seven spirits" of Babylonian magic is in con-
But it is the Liliths which enjoy the greatest individual vogue in our
evil spirits are most often merely generical, anonymous, to whom the
general compliment of a spell must be paid, but the Liliths are definite
terrors, whose malice is specific and whose traits and names are fully
known.
" The view that demons were ghosts of the dead indeed
Opf. dt., p. 482, p. 14.
existed; see Justin Martyr, Apol, i, c. 18 and for later Judaism, Eisenmenger, ii, 427.
They may have been specialized as the spirits of demoniac possession and moral
temptation (see Blau). For the relation of \>nn and irvei'ftara see Baudissin in
,
though the Lilm are only pendants to the Liliths. The origin of the word,
whether Semitic from y*f =
"nightmare, nighthag," etc. with Schrader,
Halevy, et al., or from the Sumerian HI, "storm," with Sayce," Zimmern,"
R. C. Thompson," lies beyond my present scope. Probably as others have
suggested, the resemblance of Sumerian HI to W , "night," may have had its
part in shaping the phantom of Lilith and her troop among Semitic-speaking
peoples ;
but I would suggest that the prime connection is not etymological
but semantic : lit = wind = nn = spirit ;" Lilis and Liliths are specialized
forms of prm."
In the Babylonian the Lilith (ardat lili) is the ghostly paramour of
men, and her realm is the sexual sphere ;
hence women in their periods
and at childbirth, maidens, children, are the special objects of her malice."
Hence in the bowl inscriptions, made out for the protection of homes and
the peace of family life, most often in the name of the women concerned,
it is an amulet against these noxious spirits that is particularly desired.
We may say that the Lilis and Liliths are the demons of the family life.
Texts Nos. i, 6, 8, 9, n, 17, may be referred to especially for the
Liliths. They haunt the house, i 6, lurk in the arches and thresholds, 6 4, : :
one dwells in the house concerned, 11:5. So in the Talmud they dwell in
the beams and crevices, the cesspools, etc., even as in Greek magic demons
45
Ace. to Zimmern, KAT*, 459 = paramour of lilu. Better Thompson. (Devils,
etc., i, p. xxxvii, Semitic Magic, 65), who regards the ardat lili as the more
specialized (e. g. marriageable) lilith, hence the original of the Jewish Lilith.
" Hibbert
Lectures, 145.
"
KAT, n. 460, 7.
48
Semitic Magic, 66: if Semitic, from root rtt, "be abundant, lascivious."
4
Cf. nn in Job 4: 15; the wind-draught easily passes into a ghost.
M The Old Testament,
single appearance of Lilith in the Is. 34: 14, represents a
more primitive stage of the fable than the Babylonian Liliths. She is just one of
the spirits haunting waste ruins.
51
See Thompson, /. c. et seq., who discusses the demonology of marriages with
Jinns, etc.
52
Jewish Encyc., iv, 5i6b. In 29: 6 f. (cf. 1. 9) occurs TB3i nB"2 wvW, "the
evil and the decent lilith"; this recalls the good demons of Jewish lore, 1<31B J'TB
1
,
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 77
beings from their prey." Especially do they vent their rage on little
The Liliths are intimately known, their own and their parents', even
Eisenmenger, ii, 431 f., and the good and bad sedu of the Babylonian also so the
utukku, Fossey, of. cit., 449.
"
Wessely, xlii, 66, 1. 19: they are bidden "not to hide in this earth nor under
the bed or gate or beams or vessels or holes."
"
See to 8: 7. The separation had to be legally effected, for the Lilith had her
nuptial rights or powers. Cf. the tales of the female Jinns in Arabic folklore.
**
Cited by Weber, of- cit., 255. So also in the Testament of Solomon, ed.
Conybeare, JQR, xi, 16. But not in the Talmud, according to Griinbaum, Zeits. f.
57
See Wohlstein's note; the mother's name '0', "little mother," throws light
on a passage in Pesah. 1123. In general these names are epithetical; cf. the demon
Ahriman bar Lilit, B. Bath. 733.
"
See above.
78 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
the descriptions of the species in the Mandaic bowls recall the uncanny
scenes of the witches' nights which are the theme of still existent folklore.
The Lilith is the Baskania, (i. e. witchery) of the Greek charms." The
epithets "cursing," and "undoing," e. g. 34: 13, belong to this phase of the
Lilith-idea.
**
For the psychological basis and subjective fact of these apparitions, see
Roscher, "Ephialtes" c. I, in Abhandhtngen of the Saxon Academy of Sciences, vol.
xx (1900).
60
Cf. ekimmu
harbi, Maklu-series iv, 1. 22 (Tallquist, p. 66), and the exorcism,
"evil spirit to thy desert," Thompson, Devils, i, 152, ii, 26; cf. i, 167, 191 ff. The
banning of the demons into the desert and mountains (cf. Mt. 12: 43) is frequent in
the magical papyri, an amulet published by Reitzenstein, Poimandres, 294:
e. g. in
Iva airfh&qre iv nal exe'toe Qvyafievtiqaere
aypioif dpeatv Cf. Wohlstein 2422 (1. 28), .
"go and fall on the mountains and heights and the unclean beasts." As Wohlstein
notes, the latter clause is a most interesting commentary on the anecdote of the
Gadarene devils which asked the liberty to enter the swine, Mt. 8: 28, etc.
81
See at length under No. 42.
62
Daremberg and Saglio, Dictionnaire, s. v.
63
Pauly-Wissowa, RE, s. v.
"
For Gello as a lilith-name and as probably equal to Ass. gallu, see notes to
No. 42.
M
For the incubi see Roscher, Ephialtes, 60. The special demon which is the
subject of this classic treatise corresponds to the male Lili of our texts, but his
vogue is far more extended. He is in form goat, satyr, faun, etc., a rural as well as
a domestic terror.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 79
evidently most dreaded is the class of the f^SSO or xrfoaD. Once they
are spoken of as the "seven 'D of night and day," 16: Seven
7, recalling the
Spirits of Babylonian mythology." Stiibe (p. 59) suggests derivation from
733, "bind," and Myhrmann (p. 350) compares Assyrian kabalu used in
incantations. venture to suggest metaplasis with the Syriac 13^, "hold,
I
operations. The word is used of pagan deities in 36: 5 (cf. 19: 13), even
71
as ayye/.oi appears in the papyri. The angel of death who shudders at
the Great Name appears in 3 : 6, Schwab F.
"The Satan" appears and also "the Satans," as in Enoch (40: 7) and
Rabbinic" and Arabic lore. There is no amplification of the doctrine of
" Cf.
Thompson, Semitic Magic, 47.
" etc.
Ibid., p. 43,
**
See Tambornino, De antique daemonismo, 56.
69
Cf. Mt. 25: 41, Rev. 12: 7, "the devil and his angels," and the absolute use of
the word in this sense in I Cor. n: 10, with reference to the myth in Gen. 6. Blau
notes, without citation, an evil spirit Bnpn nil, p. 10, n. 2. For evil angels, see Volz,
Jiidische Eschatologie, 23.
Wohlstein 2422. The editor makes no comment on this or the parallel phrase
in 1.
7: KnB"33 Iran no'X. 'ID'K evidently equals '3So (see below, note 112). The
"house of assembly" recalls the ancient Semitic idea of the 1J?10 in, Is. 14: 13, the
assembly of the gods on the Semitic Olympus, Walhalla having become a conventicle
of demons! (Demons are located in the north by Jewish legend, Pirke R. Eliezer,
iii, and other reff., in Eisenmenger, of. cit., ii, 438.) Or '3 'a avvayayri, eKi&iiaia,
=
may refer to the conventicle of a magical cult (cf. "the synagogue of Satan," Rev.
2:9). But the phrase is probably to be interpreted from a passage in a "Christian"
amulet published by Reitzenstein, op. cit., 295, top 6pKt^a vft&e TO hanfata tgf/KovTa :
V NBD ?),'" the latter the almost unique Semitic transliteration of <*i/?o;w.
The pp'T" appear in association with the J'p'to. The Rabbinic and
Syriac Np't is a meteor, blast of wind, etc. ;
in the Mandaic it has the more
the Old Testament." The pint? of Schwab G are black devils; cf. the
title of Satan &peMt t
in Epistle of Barnabas, 4: 9.
73
Cf. i Tim. 4. i, "seducing spirits and doctrines of devils."
"
So probably read forj'pp in Hyvernat, 1. 4; in 19: 13, <pj;T.
15
Norberg, Lexidion, 55.
"
voc., cf. the sunu zikiku, "roaming windblast," Thomp-
Muss-Arnolt, Diet., ad
son, Devils, For the simile of demons to storms, see ibid., i, 89, and
ii, 4. 1. 27.
compare the etymology of lilith (see above). For the word see 12: 8.
77
But the idea of the hairy goatlike demon which obsesses its victim with
mischievous or obscene purpose is universal. Cf. the Arabic ifrit, asabb, with the
same root-meaning; Wellhausen, Reste des arabischen Heidcntums, 135; Baudissin,
Studien, i, 136. The same phenomenon is abundantly vouched for in the Greek
demonology see Roscher, Efliialtes, 29 f., for the goatlike form of the Ephialtes,
;
and p. 62 for its epithet pilosus; and compare Pan and the Fauns. See Roscher, note
28sb, for similar representations in the superstition of India. In 5 :
4 the satyrs are
represented as haunting a particular stretch of road.
**
Probably to be read in 37 : 10.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 81
was rather a fabulous than a zoological species, akin to the liliths, satyrs
and vampires that haunt ruins, and this connotation appears in the Syro-
hexaplar to Is. 34: 17. translating tVTV by tniT while Symmachus gives ,
This equation gives the key to our present word. The Babylonians
'./"'<! .""
80 *
represented their demons in uncouth shapes of birds and animals.
probably from root Cl^ "curse,"" or a form of the Targumic Xit'tS. "shade-
demon." The pt3BB> in Hyvernat, 1.
3, for which Griinbaum (p. 221) cites
"
According to Jastrow, Lagarde's editions of the Targums have everywhere this
form ; 1'SlS' appears as a variant in one place.
*
See Field's Hexapla. N. B. the interpretations of the uncanny creatures in
this passage as demons by both the Greek and the Targum.
**
This word is to be distinguished from I'll, an eye-disease (see below) ;
because of the uncertainty of the spelling of the two words the 'Til at end of
Schw. G may be the one or the other word.
"
Cf. the Syriac ttiixv.
" See Pognon, Inscriptions semitiques, 82; Clay, Amurru, 162.
Stiibe, 1. 4.
82 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
par with the mystical names of the angels (see 13)." Finally we may
note the blanket- formulas for demons who are named and who are not
named, and which have their parallel in the Babylonian," and in the Greek
magic."
There are comparatively few certain references to ghosts; the pnn,
etc., as spirits of the dead, may include them." One case in point is found
in No. 39: "charmed the lilith that appears to her .... [in some shape] ;
charmed the lilith that appears to her in .... [the shape of ?] Tata her
niece; charmed all the defiling ghosts, xnsioi, that have entered, which
spell. Familiar names are given to the spirits and they are cajoled to do no
harm. Also in Wohlstein, no. 2422 appears the 1JVD soa'p JTO nn. m
There is constant reference to dreams (Kob'n ) and apparitions ( xrnoi,
which are the milieu of demoniac and ghostly apparitions, cf 7
KJ'Tn ) ," . :
13; hence U5W 'Pi "disturbing dreams," in which phrase the noun is
,
* For a
typical Babylonian incantation against ghosts, see Thompson, Devils, i,
37-
" For
oneirology in later Judaism, see Joel, Der Aberglaube, i, 103.
*
See Roscher, Ephialtes, especially p. 48 f. for the etymology.
*
Wessely, xlii, 31, top.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 83
OF ;i QvfaiKTtjpiov mj/wzTO^Maf npof iJaf'/iovaf, Trpof ^avraafiara, Ttpbf vdaav v6aov icai
Trdtfof ; another against enemies, robbers, etc. and f5/3ouf and ^avraafiara ot*>jv.
These dreams and the similar panic fears of day and night are also referred
to in extenso in Gollancz's Syriac charms..
(2)
sorcerer's name. It is nothing else than the legal "John Doe." In like man-
ner, in Wohlstein 2416, all evil works, etc., are commanded to return
But inasmuch as the sorcerer's names are not generally known, the
incantations content themselves with listing the various kinds of magical
practices and putting them under the potent spell. The 5wr/>M-series
illustrates the prophylactic practice; for instance, its third tablet" is con-
"
/&., 42.
**
/6., 64. Dream-magic was highly developed among the Greeks; we have
charms for sending dreams, bveipo-rro/ivoi e. g. Dieterich, op. cit., 191, 1. 15. Magic
,
is required as an antidote. Hence dreams are listed with other maleficent agencies,
e. g. :
irvebfiara xftltvia, a/iapriai, 6veipoi, bpnot, flaaitavia; Wessely, xxxvi, 8l, 1. 8l.
*
Probably technically expressed by 1'^3'p.
*
Zimmern, Beitrage, 13.
84 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
which is in my body, be peeled off like this onion." We mark here the
union of curses, etc. with evils of the flesh, just as they occur in our bowls.
Accordingly we find exorcism effected with this prudent intention
w"
against payo, etc. ; penn (+ pna),"* "black arts," perhaps generally
with the sense of poisoning, = ^a/j/MKOTnxm;
95
xnnD , "sorceries," 39
M
:
4 ;
the frequent 'HTJ, maleficent "vows" and the NQ'in, which is the Syriac
Christian equivalent of avd&e/ui, perhaps also Ti^K (Wohlstein, 2426: 5).""
This listing of the bans and their originators has its abundant parallel in
the Babylonian magic ;
e. g. the third tablet of the Surpu-series, already
cited, in which all possible kinds and origins of curse are listed in 165
lines: of father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, brother, sister, etc.,
M * For
this and following technical names for sorcery, see II, beginning.
94
Cf. the Latin equivalents, nefaria sacra, maleficia. artes nefandae, malae artes;
see Abt, Die Apologie des Apuleius, 30.
* But tyappaKov survived in a good sense in
So in the Syriac,
7: 13. also in
literature with magical tinge, e. g. in no. 30 of Bishop Serapion's prayers, "Thy name
be a $. for health and soundness." For an extensive discussion of the word, see
Abt, Apuleius, 112. It is formally impossible to distinguish between the words
"sorcerers" and "sorceries," except in the Mandaic. Cf. the use of the adjective
tnin, 39: 6.
* For these words see the convenient
summary in T. W. Davies, Magic, Divin-
ation and Demonology among the Hebrews and their Neighbors, 44 ff.
**
See above, II. Pognon was the first correctly to interpret this term, B, p. 19.
* own work.
In 2 : 6 we find Hfimrw, snntr, Kni'M, used of the "white magician's"
"
A similar list in Ellis 3 = Schwab B. In the later magic these classes are
listed in exorcism of the evil eye.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 85
as in the Mandaic citation with the causes of ban, and so too the hierodule
100
or prostitute. The difference between the Babylonian mamit and these
KHDI^ is that the former has rather the sense of taboo, the latter of a
1
malicious curse effected under foul auspices.
Then 1 "
there are the "names," e. g. 16: 8. KnTOie 1
,
of hostile invocations,
and the pTO "words," curse formulas, including the informal imprecation.
,
Compare "the evil word" of the witch in Babylonian magic,"" and the
10*
current Babylonian phrase, "the evil mouth, the evil tongue, the evil lip."
The Talmud has the principle, "None open his mouth to Satan.""* By a
natural passage of thought the tongue and the mouth come in for exorcism,
e. "Bound and held be the mouth, and bound the tongue, of curses
g. :
Bound be the tongue in its mouth, held be its lips, shaken .... the teeth
1'
and stopped the ears of curses and invocations." The binding of the
tongue is a frequent element in the Greek magic some thirty of the naradta/toi ;
its use in the bowls is Kno^tc, found coupled with the above terms. Halevy
10 *
and Wohlstein compared form IV of the Arabic verb and rendered it as
a delivery to evil. But it is to be compared with the Targumic lOptfK, used
100
Jastrow, op. cit., i, 367, 373.
101
So the Greek Kartiieofiot and the Jewish ,
collection of charms in Thompson,
"Folk Lore of Mossoul," PSBA, xxviii-ix.
w * Cf.
the names of Hecate in the Greek Karaiea/toi, e. g. Wunsch, Antike
Fluchtafeln, no. I.
1M
See Jastrow, op. cit., i, 285.
*
Fossey, op. cit., 50, with citations.
"*
Berak. iQa, 6oa, Ketub. 8b; see Joel, Der Aberglaube, i, 70 (but rationalizing),
and Blau, op. cit., 6i,,with Talmudic instances.
"
L :
dz., 4.
*"
Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East, 307. An amulet of later age
(Reitzenstein, Poimandres, 295) analyzes the evil tongue into the lie, accusation,
magic, sycophancy.
"*
So rightly Stiibe the heathen priest was, and at last appeared exclusively
;
in Targ. Jer. to Lev. 8: 28, etc., in sense of dedication, = 1n. Its counter-
part is found in the Mandaic system, where the N'JKO^B' are the T#.OI,
111
and it is the exact equivalent of the Greek retenfr, the (magic) rites. Also
112
the usual terms, the nD's, the "hyp, "countercharms," the ^O"p, etc., all
More obscure are the NrnnD (Ellis 3: 10) = "hidden arts" with
which may be possibly compared the turns? of Schwab R, and Wohlstein,
2426: 6."' Also the snaip^ (once NnaipnC'X ) have aroused question.
Schwab proposed f\pB>, "envisager," of the evil eye; Stiibe, Wohlstein,
Lidzbarski, connect with the root "to knock", (cf. *ipE> used of a Lilith,
IM
ii :
6). This meaning is corroborated by the amulet of Lidzbarski's just
110
Brandt, Mand. Rel, 120, 170; Mand. Schr., 8, n. 5, 36, n. i; Noldeke, Mand.
Gram., p. xxviii.
111
Dieterich, Abraxas, 136. Stiibe (p. 37) first offered the explanation given
above. Pognon discusses an obscure phrase in his bowls JUKHD^BW '13'nB (B, p. 49),
translating "and their adherents." Lidzbarski treating the same phrase (Bph. i, 94)
rightly takes exception to such a form and translates, "I deliver them," which is
unsatisfactory. Probably our noun is to be understood here, reading the nominal
suffix 11 for the verbal fU . Our word may be a translation of the Greek rtterii;
""
Noldeke, 7.. f. Keils.-forsch., ii, 299, animadverting upon Hyvernat holds that
KID'K, translated "prince, angel," always means "charm." Now the parallelism in
Wohlstein 2422 between KJWJ3 wan >1D>K, 1. 7, and '3 'zi 3Sn, 1. 15 (see above,
n. 70), appears to approve Hyvernat, while in the Talmud 'K "genius, angel" =
(e. g. 'Jnm ', angel of nourishment). But Noldeke's etymology is doubtless right;
a genius to be invoked was himself called an incantamentum. A proof of this is
found in the Mandaic amulet published by Lidzbarski in the Florilegium dedicated
to de Vogue, p. 349, in 1. 29 f. (not understood by the editor cf. 1. 210), where Hibel
Ziwa is the NBB-m SIBJ, "the True Charm"; 'i = KlB'p = 1D'K. Cf. the Mandaic
genius "Great Mystery."
"'
Wohlstein: "bose Schickungen" ;
or it may be related to Assyrian sataru,
sadaru, "write," of a written charm.
"*
So in a Babylonian text, of demons : "The man they strike, the women they
hit," Fossey, op. cit., 282.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 87
"vows," with which compare the 55*2 DjrB'K in his text 18, is exercised M
against practices which magically placed "sin" on the shoulders of some
innocent person. Compare the symbol in Zecharia's vision of the removal
of wickedness and its curse to the land of Shinar (Zech. 5). But there
is doubtless a reminiscence here of the old Babylonian forms in which a
sense of personal guilt appears in the incantations; so frequently in tablets
demoniac force. Heitmuller pertinently remarks :"* "Die Siinde ist ein Art
Besessenheit." And so sins are listed in the Greek objects of exorcism, e. g.
116
irvci'ftara xd6via, afiapritu, ovcipoi, opuot, flaoiiaviat.
invoked to suppress the wrath and anger and power and might of the
adversary.
*
A tablet to provoke such malice against an enemy is no. 2
11
120
in Wiinsch's small collection. The K"3 b'D or pe3 ^n (30: 4) is a
*"
Op. cit., 307.
"'
Wessely, xxxvi, 81, 1. 1443 ff. (the Paris Papyrus).
117
Thompson, PSBA, xxviii, 106, 108, etc.
m Ib., xiii, 160.
"'
Cf. the charm in Wessely, xlii, 60 f.
"*
See the editor's comment, p. 8.
** Mand. Gram.,
For their character as spirits, see Noldeke, 76.
88 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
a baneful influence."
2
We might think of the manipulation of, for instance,
an opal to bring another ill-luck ;
but probably the objects are more obscene,
NS'3 , "pebble," Ellis 3: n, would belong to the same class, but it is prob-
ably to be read NDia.
The magic bowls themselves are among the evil influences (7: 13,
perhaps Ellis /. c."), and so the magic knots, ne<p 7: 13, and Hp'jj (?) ,
34: 10. There is one reference to the magic circle of the doctors of sorcery,
126
x^toi isrn, and to the use of wax, trrp, both in 39: 7 (q. v.). The
<no of 7: ii (q. v.) and the *ni of Pognon B, no. 27, may be explained
like tstn = circles. The 'B'T of 7: 13 (q. v.*), entered between the "arts"
and "bowl," may be the hairs of the victim as used in magic.
"
The museums of antiquities possess many such necklace charms, which are
often composed of stones of the shape of a drop or an eye prophylactic against
the evil eye? See for example, the illustrations to the art. "Amuletum" in Daremberg
and Saglio, Dictionnaire des antiquites grec. et rom; El worthy, The Evil Bye, fig.
21. For the use of stones in Babylonian magic, see the 3d tablet of the Labartu-
series and Myhrman's note thereon, ZA, xvi, 151 cf. Jastrow, op. cit., i, 338, and ;
vertebra =
the sappu of the ass as prescribed in the Labartu texts. With this cf.
the prescription of parvum asini freni anulum in digito portandum, Cyranides ii, 15.
6, Mely and Ruelle, Les lapidaires grecs, Paris, 1898, quoted by Tambornino, De
ed.
ant. daemonismo, 83. The mystical properties of stones in Egyptian lore is well
known, and they were associated with the metals and planets see Berthelot, Les ;
origines d'alchimie, Paris, 1885, 47, 218 ff., etc. For the use of stones and bones as
prophylactics against the evil eye, see Seligmann, Der base Blick, ii, 24, 141 ff. For
Hellenistic references and bibliography, see Abt, Apuleius, 115. Buxtorf and Levy, in
their dictionaries, s. v., and Griinbaum, ZDMG, xxxi, 263, understand these charms as
pearls or corals.
121
Cf. the Ai'tfof fidyvt/f irviuv, see Abt, op. cit., 115, 121, and n. b. the baitulia
described as ).i$oi l/j^v^oi by Philo of Byblos, Eusebius, Praep. evang., i, 6.
'**
Once, as though misunderstood, masculinized. 'p3N, 12. 9; also ttnpJN.
25
For these articles see Krauss, Talmudische Archaologie, i, 203 ff. ; Blau, op.
cit., 91.
**
For the Babylonian ideas of the virtue of the circle, see above, 8. Choni,
the famous rainmaker in the Talmud, was called ^JlJ?Dn the circle-drawer, because
,
of his use of this device, Taanith 3:8; see Blau, op. cit., 33. According to Joel, op.
cit-, i. 33, Choni was an Essene, but he appears to have stood in good repute with the
orthodox.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 89
(3)
how far we have in this phenomenon the survival of ancient animism which
peopled the universe with spirits good and evil, and how far in the fin de
and personifications of the play and fancy of the later mind, working some-
times in the field of a worse superstition, sometimes at the service of the
1
free and philosophic imagination." In the Old Testament the Word, the
m For Talmudic notions, see Blau, Zauberwesen, 152; Joel, Aberglaube, i, 74.
m A Palestinian
amulet published by the writer in JAOS, 1911, 281: "from the
eye of his father, mother, women, men, virgins .... ailment and shame and spirit
and demons."
"*
ZDMG, xxxi, 260 f.
"
Reste arab. Held., 143.
M1
Cf. the issue of the Platonic Ideas into the Gnostic Aeons.
90 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
Spirit of Yahwe, even his Sword (Am. g: 4, cf. Gen. 3: 24), are person-
ified; the evil spirit of Yahwe (i Ki. 22) becomes in the end an evil spirit
Greek text, issues in the Seven Spirits about the throne of God, Rev. i :
4.
under other names, and social evils such as enemies, loss of property, shame,
might be exorcised. Probably the more intelligent man regarded this as a
rational substitution for the elder demonology, while to the superstitious it
merely meant more demons. At all events in the later magic we find more
of the hypostatization of natural ills how seriously it is to be taken is not
always certain, and their commonplace names are simply given, whereas
the old Babylonian magic would name the demoniac germ of the malady.
Hence in our lists of exorcised ills we have in addition to the actual devils,
man") was also the physician, and medicine was born out of magic rites,
we may observe in the naming of the actual maladies an intrusion of the
1 "
rational spirit.
JM
So the "thrones, dominions, principalities, powers," of Paul (Col. i 16) ; :
not only Gnosticism worked out this line of thought but also the Church took this
heavenly hierarchy seriously.
*
JQR, ix, 24, 34. So in Hermas, the vices of the tongue are called taiftfota
'**
Ahhazu becomes the name of a certain fever (a "yellow" fever), Kiichler,
Beitr. z. Kenntniss d. ass.-bab. Medezin, 61. N. B. the assignment of the several
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 91
irpbf vaaav v6aov Kal mitfof ,'" samples of Syriac charms published
So in the
along with the demons, e. g. p. 79: Exorcised, etc. be "all demons, devils,
phantoms, every practice, all temptations, unclean spirits, cruel dreams, dark
demons, asakku, namtaru, etc., to the different parts of the body, head, throat, etc. ;
140
xlii, 39, 1. 589-
"'
Actes du uieme Congres des Orientalistes, Section 4, 77.
92 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
1 "
apparitions ;
fear and trembling, terror and surprise, dread, anxiety,
excessive weeping; fever-panic, tertian fever, all kinds of fever, febrile
ills, inflammations, etc. ; when a child troubles its mother with pains of
travail ;*" tumors, pestilences, .... all pains and all sicknesses, all. wounds
and all oppositions, surprises, revenges .... the nine sicknesses," etc. And
Vassiliev has published a number of Byzantine charms directed especially
" 1
against specific diseases, the first of which is a general panacea <VJ/"f" ty"? :
(sic)
especially epidemic disease, NB31B>; ""JOB, and n. b. rpyJB 16: 10; Km no,
Mand. Kfvno; D'B> (t3lB>?) 34: 10, 39: 4;"' also the SDDH, "sufferings.""
Cf. Ps. 91 :
5, a psalm and a verse which the Jews regarded as a valuable
here, = paifta/ia.
Of our texts Nos. II, 16, 24, 29, 34, are of this character; so also a clause
in Lidzbarski 5 ;
lists of diseases appear in Wohlstein 2422, apparently
49
mostly cutaneous affections,* and at the end of Schwab G.
141
Fears are a frequent object of exorcism in the Greek magic, e. g. Wessely, xlii,
64, and collation of the subject by Tambornino, De ant. daemonismo, 58, 65 f.
1. 25, ;
sense of blindness in connection with this root arose from the fact that
the sun produces blindness (eye-diseases are most common in the Orient),
No. 29 :
7 we have a characteristic magical prescription for a woman
who is exorcised from the various categories of devils and charms
150
For these and the following terms, see Glossary C.
"'
A disease asu in Assyrian, Kiichler, op. cit., 131, 197.
"' Frankel (ib., 309) eft.
Wohlstein, dropsy or urinary affection?
2422: 20,
Hull. iosb, and explains as "water from which a demon has drunk." It may be the
eye-disease known to the Jews as "water," see Preuss (cited in next note), p. 305.
151
For the diseases in the Bible and Talmud see Jewish Encyc. art. "Medicine,"
and iv, 517 f. for demons of diseases, with bibliography, viii, 413 f. ; noteworthy
treatments that have since appeared are Krauss, Talmudisclie Arch'dologie, i, 104,
again a charm for a woman, after the list of demons appear xmpj? and Kr6an
which we should translate "barrenness" and "bereavement," understanding
them as personified."* But in the parallel Mandaic text of Lidzbarski's
(see to No. n) bereavement has become a Lilith (*n*W Nnioxn, 'H =
takkaltd). Which is the original of these forms? In 34: 10 xnopi pnjnK
might be rendered, "ugliness and distortion," with which compare the
1"
charms of the Greek youths in the papyri for health, good looks, etc.
We mark that the rationalization of maladies had not gone very far;
the decadent Babylonians were satisfied with the exorcism of devils and
witchcraft and avoided the diagnosis of diseases. For modern magical
practice in this field see the collection of Jewish charms published by R.
C. Thompson, "Folklore of Mossoul," PSBA, 1906-7. In these the spirits
have fled, but the ancient magical practices remain effective.
another example, given by Reisner," fifty great gods, seven gods of destiny,
300 Annunaki of heaven and 600 of earth, are invoked. It is not inevitable
then that we must go to Persian dualism to discover the origin of the
be exalted alone broke down before the specious and alluring argument that
there must be more who are with us than those who are against us (2 Ki.
6: 16).
very deficient; reliance is placed upon bans and formulas with often no
reference to Deity or other personal agencies of friendly character. Those
inscriptions in which such supernatural agencies apart from God are
invoked may be divided into three classes, representing so many distinct
origins. There are those in which the well known names and name-
formations of the Jewish angelology appear; although, as remarked above,
12, the word "angel" is not used in all cases in the usual Jewish sense
(often = deity). Then there are the genii of the Mandaic religion,
mostly with names of outlandish formation. And finally there are the
1
From the Surpu-series, iv, 1. 68 ff.
1
Rel. Bab. u. Ass., i, 289.
'
Sum.-bab. Hymnen, iv, 1. 152 ff.
i
(95)
96 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
(1) We need not dwell long upon the Mandaic genii. Pognon has
4
given a survey of those occurring in his bowls, to which may be added a
few more from Lidzbarski's and my texts. Some of the names are pat-
terned after the Jewish angelic nomenclature, e. g. ivj?S"nj? (= isKBll), or
have forms in -ai, e. g. 'sorUJ, 'tnya, called "angels" (No. 38), or we
find a name D'Wictcp patterned after the obscure Mandaic principles
Piriawis and Sindiriawis. A number of the names are not found in the
5
known Mandaic literature.
(2) The angelology of the apparently Jewish texts and the angelic
nomenclature are not as elaborate as we find in later Jewish literature, e. g.
7
the Sword of Moses' or the Sefcr Rasfe!, the bulk of which consists of
lists of angelic names." The majority of our texts have no such names.
The most common angels are Michael, Gabriel, Raphael. As a rule the
names are formed in -el, although other formations appear and quite un-
Jewish potencies are brought in as angels. Our texts stand on the border-
land of Jewish angelology and not within its orthodox development.
Taking up first the known angels, we find that Michael does not have
by Gabriel, Raphael, Nuriel, ct al. (e. g. Nos. 14, 34, Hyv.), but as often
the order
has Gabriel first, Gabriel, Michael, Raphael (Nos. 7, 20.
4
B, p. 93.
5
In Ellis i the Mandaic genius Abatur is an evil spirit, and is classed among
the ghostly spirits inWohlstein, 2417: 6. N. B. the occurrence of this name as
Abyater in an Ethiopic apocryphon, Littmann, JAOS, xxv, 28. Afriel, ib., 29, is a
form of Raphael, corresponding to the form occurring in the bowls; see Glossary
A, j. v.
'
Caster, Journ. Royal Asiatic Soc., 1896, and in separate imprint.
*
Composed by Eleazar of Worms, I3th cent.
*
See, in general, Schwab, Dictionnaire de I'angelologie, 1897 (in Mf moires of
Academy of Inscriptions and Belles-lettres, Series i, vol. 10, part 2). The Essenes
laid great stress on the names of angels, Josephus, Bell, jud., ii, 8: 7.
*
See Lueken, Michael, 1898, especially 4.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 97
w
Nos. 10, I5). The latter order is of course that of their appearance in
the Jewish literature (Old Testament and Tobit). Other angels may pre-
cede these or occur without them. Aniel appears as the fourth in a tetrad
(Wohlstein 2416).
The title peculiar to Michael in Jewish lore, the Great Prince, ^"Un -ic?n
(Dan. 12, Aboda Z. 42!), etc.), appears in 5: 3, but without specific refer-
ence, and at the end of No. J in the list of angels, which in
its occurrence at the beginning of the text names Gabriel first, Armasa is
glory expressed : "the mighty, the king, genius of the law" ( S3?D N12J
1
gests that the frequent opening invocation, "In thy name, O Lord of
salvation (sniDK), great Saviour (N'OK) of love," which is not a regular
Jewish form of address to Deity, may refer to Michael;" but the supposi-
Raguel, Michael, Sarakael, Gabriel. For Gabriel we may note that the Mandaeans
gave him high honor, identifying him with Hibel Ziwa (Norberg, Onom., 33;
Brandt, Mand. Schr., 21), while they appear to have ignored Michael.
u M. For the
Lueken, Michael, 1 1, 87 : is price of love. epithet referred to, see
notes to No. 3.
12
Cf. the dictum of Sefer Raziel
(quoted by Schwab, Dictionnaire, 7) that in
divination necessary to pronounce the mystic names of the planets. Cf. a form
it is
of charm in Wessely, xlii, 65, where the seven angels are named in one column, and
parallel to them two rows of barbarous mystical names, the first column containing
varying permutations of the seven vowels; e. g. ac^iovu x v X P'X 1"!^ vvaev.
N. B. the many mystical or magical names of the deities or "angels" in the
Harranian philosophy; Dozy and de Goeje, Actes of 6th Congress of Orientalists,
II, i, 297.
98 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
kabbalist, such a figure is more sympathetic than the archangel (cf. the
the Presence, Prince of the Law, Prince of wisdom, Prince of kings, etc.
(cf. the titles applied to Michael in Hyvernat's bowl),
while elsewhere
he is called the Prince of the world, cf. the title
(Eisenmenger, ibid.}
"the great prince" discussed above in connection with Michael.
1'
may We
"*
Most of these names are plays on evident roots.
a For references and literature on the
planetary angels see Lueken, op. cit., 56;
add Eisenmenger, Entdecktes Judentum, ii, 383 ff. Bousset, Religion des Judentums, ;
315 ff.
" Both ideas are associated in Philo's mind; see Lueken, 7, on the Uyof
apxayyetof of Philo.
17
For later legends see Eisenmenger, ii, 304 ff -=nd the interesting critical dis-
cussion of this later (Gaonic) development of Judaism by Joel, Der Aberglaube, ii,
IS ff-
NDD1S, which appears in No. 3, is the Greek Hermes, more especially the
Hermes of the mystic Egypto-Grecian theosophy (see to No. 3). He is
1'
theWord, etc. (No. 19) and in 25 :
4 f., is identified with Metatron. Thus
we have here a welding together of the esoteric Jewish Metatron and the
Just as Hermes was dragged in, so other names or words were put
in the category of angels or intermediate beings. So in 7 8 the invocation
:
As for the minor angels most of them can be found in other Jewish
literature, and reference for them may be made to Schwab's dictionary
formation they follow the general rule of making the first (verbal) element
express the object desired in the incantation. Thus in the love-charms
Nos. 13 and 28, the angels invoked are Rahmiel, Habbiel and Hanniniel.
(3) It is difficult to say how many of the bowls are Jewish; the pres-
ence of Jewish catchwords is not a sufficient criterion. I would call atten-
tion to a few of the Nippur bowls which are definitely pagan. Of such
nature is the last one cited, No. 28, where along with the angel Rahmiel
me, Sina (moon) has sent me, Bel has commanded me, Nannai has said to
me [blank], and Nirig (Nergal) has given me power." In quite antique
a
Pognon B, p. 93, Lidz., 4: 2 (p. 103, n. 7); cf. the change of the beneficent
Mandaic genius Abatur into an evil spirit in Ellis I.
"
Thompson, Devils, i, 133.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 101
2"
of Marduk." Cf. also the Maklu-series "The god and goddess have
:
priestly exorcism in the old forms coming down from the asipu priests of
JS
Ibid., 23.
26
Tablet ii, 11. 52, 158. Cf. also 9, end.
IV. HISTORICAL CONCLUSIONS
Very diverse views as to the antiquity of the bowls have been offered
script of the potsherds from Samaria, which only their certain provenance
compels us to ascribe to the Omride age.
But most of the students would be inclined to place the bowls con-
siderably later, between the fifth and ninth centuries, although rather by
conjecture, from the impression made by the contents, than through pos-
itive proofs. Levy and Halevy thought, but fallaciously, that they could
detect Arabisms, and were inclined to date the texts after the Arabic con-
quest.' Noldeke would place Hyvernat's bowl not earlier than the eighth
century, basing his opinion on the forms of the Persian names." Schwab
assigned his Louvre bowls to the fourth or fifth century.*
1
See above, 5.
'
Levy, ZDMG, ix, 474; Halevy, Comptes rendus, 1877, 292, specifying more
exactly, "vers le pieme siecle."
*
Zeits. f. Keilschriftforsch., ii, 295.
4
Rev. d'ass. et d'arch., ii, 136.
(102)
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 103
uncertainty as to the age of the Greek magical texts, in which, for instance,
a Christian theological phrase may not define the age of the magical formula,
can only give a clue to that of the particular document. And so our texts,
many scripts, nevertheless the appearance of the same persons and families
in the three classes tends to show that they all belonged to about the same
age. We are not therefore to suppose a stratification of Judaic, Syriac,
Mandaic layers, representing so many different ages or even distinct racial
elements. Nor do the variants within the texts of the square script compel
us to assign them to different ages ;
these are but calligraphic variations.
There isevery reason to place the Nippur bowls within rather a brief period,
and if one or a few texts threw any light upon the chronology, we could
place the age of the whole collection.
they lay above the stratum of the Parthian temple. This building had
been destroyed, was covered with sand, and upon the Tell settled small
Semitic communities, Jews and Mandaeans, drawn to the deserted place
made a practical use and profit out of their religious prestige in the pre-
paration of magical texts. To
speak more exactly of the archaeological
conditions, in the "Jewish" houses discovered by Peters an upper stratum
contained Cufic coins of the seventh century, a lower stratum only
Parthian coins, Jewish bowls being found also in the latter. The lowest
104 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
dating then is the seventh century, on the basis of the Cufic coins, and this
(probably its beginning), with a fair leeway back into the preceding century.
I have discussed this script in 6 and there came to the conclusion that
by its identity with the Manichaean alphabet. But again this may be a
case of survival; certain evidence from epigraphy is nil.
upon the other two, the Rabbinic and Syriac. There are many words which
can be illustrated only from the neo-Syriac dialects, or from the compilations
of the Syriac lexicographers. But these words may be old and only by
chance have failed to make their appearance in literature. Thus the late
Syriac form NT35? "goat," is now found in the Elephantine papyri. The
fact that a Persian word, e. g. dastabira, does not appear till later or is a
*
It is impossible to make an epigraphical examination of all the bowls published,
for in the majority of cases facsimiles are not given, or they are poorly made.
*
Noldeke's argument that the element -duch for -ducht speaks for a late age
is not at all stringent for a Semitic dialect which would naturally abhor a termination
every possible name of evil spirits (n. b. the adoption of &a/3<>;u) and inas-
much as the good Semitic word may long have been at home on the Arabian
frontiers of Babylonia.
later, they are but the continuation, which we should expect, of the magic
of the elder bowls, and as I have noticed in 2, towards the end, late de-
they afford us one result of comparative value. While the great mass of
magical, and more particularly Jewish magical literature, is known to us
only in late documents, we may but speculate as to the age of the Sword
of Moses, the Wisdom of the Chaldaeans, the Seal of Solomon, the elements
of Sefer Razielour texts are contemporary and authentic documents of
the late pre-Islamic period in Babylonian history.
15- ORIGINS AND RELATIONS OF THE BOWL MAGIC
"Jewish incantation bowls" is the title that has been generally applied
to our species of magical texts. It arose in consequence of the fact that
the first bowls interpreted, as also the majority of those now known, are
written in the script and dialectic forms of the speech of the Talmud,
In the magic-wild age at the beginning of our era, the Jewish magic
was recognized as one of the three great schools of sorcery, along with
the Chaldaean and the Egyptian. The Jews had inherited the rites and
notions of primitive magic from the Arabian Hebrews and from ancient
Canaan ; despite the severity of an ethical monotheism, which throughout
1
Hence our rude and vulgar texts are of philological importance as almost the
only early contemporary documents of these dialects.
'
The analogies have been set forth in the preceding sections ; in the following
paragraphs I can only speculate on the genealogical relations. Cf. Deissmann,
Light from the Ancient East, 261, n. 2.
(106)
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 107
its growth had placed a unique ban upon the practice of sorcery, this
feature nevertheless survived. While the Second Isaiah is deriding the
sorceries of Babylon and exposing their helplessness (c. 47), we have
stray glimpses of the persistence of ancient rites closely akin to magic, which
still claimed the adherence of renegades (Eze. 8; Is. 65, 66). In the Book
of Tobit are given magical remedies for the expulsion of foul demons with
the concurrence of angels; Josephus tells of his sorcerer who could pull
the demon out of the nose of the possessed with a root indicated by
3
Solomon. The New Testament gives the first extensive and intimate
picture of the magical conditions in Palestine through the finger of ;
"If I
God cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out?" inquires
Jesus. In Acts we read of well-established sorcerers who bewitched the
people and even Gentiles in foreign parts, a Simon Magus and Bar-Jesus
Elymas. But apart from the hoary forms of Mezuzoth and Tephillin and -
'
A.J., viii, 2, 5. For a survey of Jewish magic and a large bibliography, see
Schiirer, Gesch. d. Jiid. Volkes, 32, vii (ed. 3, iii, 294).
'
See H. Vincent, "Amulette judeo-arameenne," Rev. bibl, 1908, 382. (with ample
bibliography), and Montgomery, JAOS, 19", 272.
*
See the analogies presented in u.
'
Dieterich, Abraxas, 70.
1
See notes to No. 28.
108 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
Jewish and Hellenic magic.' But just wherein lay the peculiar type and
was specifically Hebrew and not Canaanitish or borrowed from the spheres
of culture to the east and west? What different origins are assigned by
the commentators to the occult practices described in Eze. 8.'
life of the people as well as into the discussions of the schools; magic holds
its sway more or less over all, and its existence, if not its legality, is con-
fessed by the spiritual masters, who, if we may contrast successively Mishna,
Gemara, the Gaonic period, with one another, came more and more to
recognize and legitimatize the practice of magic.
10
We catch in the Talmud
and the subsequent authoritative literature some of the magical phrases,
learn something of the practices and beliefs in demons, mark the super-
neighbors." Our bowls and their inscriptions are rude and unlovely, with
'
/&., i37 ff.
*
See Kraetzschmar, ad loc.
10
See Joel, Der Aberglaube, the sections C, D, E (pt. I, pp. 55, 64; pt. 2, p. 2)
for this comparison. For the Talmudic teachers who allowed and practised magic,
see Blau, Das altjiid. Zauberwesen, 26, 54.
" the Babylonian Jews were far more addicted
According to Blau, pp. 23, 84,
to magic than the Palestinians.
u Cf. the noble Hermetic of creation, the "holy word" in the Eighth Book
hymn
of Moses, in which "God smiled seven times," and each smile was an act of creation ;
Dieterich, p. 182.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 109
And withal they give a sample of the medley and fusion of peoples and
religions in the land which the Jews had long since called Confusion.
The order of the day is to Babylonize, and our evident line of primary
investigation is to discover the relationships of the bowls with the ancient
Babylonian magic, the literature of which in the last decades has been
published in large quantities by the most distinguished Assyriologists."
My notes to the texts and the Introduction show how apparently numerous
are the connections between the object of our study and the magic of
Babylonia. While there is only one instance of the specific bowl praxis in
that earlier literature," still its method of defixion is quite congruous with
the ancient magical operations. As of yore, the sorcerer appears as the
commissioner of Deity or of the gods ( 9) ;
he follows definite and repeti-
tious formulas, similar to the Babylonian siptu ( n). He invokes most
frequently, or at least primarily, one chief god, "the Lord of love and
the Babylonian, so in our magic these are specified in long detailed lists
( 12). In fact our spells far outdo the Babylonian repetition of the .
seven classes of evil spirits. In the Mandaic texts the terror of the witches
appears, in others the evil charm is reversed upon the head of the sorcerer,
all as in Babylonian magic. Rites and words and the instruments of magic,
which are personified, are as much the object of detestation as in the Maklu-
series. Diseases and all human ills are inspired by devils, indeed are devils
and are treated as personal essences. The magician's ban, the spell of the
mighty god, is laid upon them all, and they are forthwith assumed to be
"bound," and "tied," as in older days when simulacra sacramentally sealed
the operation. Even the quotation of Scriptures and references to sacred
legend have their parallels in the Babylonian incantations, which used the
ancient myths as potent charms ( n). It is unnecessary to proceed
further with the summary of general correspondences, but enough has
" and
See for the literature, Jastrow, Pel. Bab. u. Ass., i, ch. xvi, his Religious
been noticed to dispose our minds to the dictum of Zimmern: 15 "Diese (the
incantation bowls) im Ausdruck oft iiberraschend an die alten babylonischen
not intended by the writer, are open to criticism. In the first place, as
observed in the preceding sections, similar correspondences with the Greek
Of the old Babylonian names of demons, only two appear in our texts,
Babylonian, in ancient times had pervaded the Semitic world. The utnkki
limnuti are the KnE3 pnn , "evil spirits," but these have their biblical pre-
15
KAT, 463.
'
The actual adoption by the Jews of Babylonian magical rites is portrayed in
Eze. 13: 17 f.
11
Z. f. Keilschriftforsch., ii, 297.
" The Knots' may be Babylonian, see to 8: 2.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. Ill
1'
one or two magical prescriptions are all that remain in our texts of the
elder practice. The use of the bowl in a love-charm has its parallel only
in the Hellenistic /mrdffor/iof or defi.vio, likewise buried in the earth. The
sorcerer invokes the names of ancient masters (as in the Greek magic
again), he no longer is professionally independent like the dsipu priest; even
laymen borrow and lay the spells. The mere "word" or "name" has
replaced the practice; in the Babylonian magic the gods were prayed to
for their assistance, and we often question whether we are
dealing with
magic or religion; here their or the angels' names are simply used, and
these are sufficient to invoke their potency, without appeal to the heart or
mind of a living deity. The use of a word like Abraxas illustrates the
by a cheap and easy formula without any of the "service" of the gods, with
litany and priest, which the elder rites prescribed.
There is thus a change in the spirit of the magic. The old Babylonian
was religious in his incantations ;
it is only in the so-called medical texts
that we find the passage from the religious sphere to that of entirely
mechanical operation, which may issue either in empirical science or in
absolute magic. The sense of sin lay heavy upon the Babylonian devotee,
he needed to dress in sackcloth and wallow in ashes, while the incantation
"
See Nos. 12, 13.
30
Cf. the "confessional" in the second tablet of the 5r/>w-series.
XOI
See p. 86.
112 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
images and many sanctuaries was revealed in his Names." And so holy
words and names became the province of the Jewish sorcery. His religion,
when it passed out of the naturalistic or the ethical sphere, found its outlet
in logology, in Rabbinism with its logomachies, in magic and kabbalism
with their manipulation of words and letters, Even the angels, which were
imported as a kind of humanizing mythology into Jewish monotheism,
came to be but plays on roots, invocations of the attributes or activities of
a
deity, so that finally angel was merely synonymous with charm.
In these particulars the Jews may have contributed to the later
" Kabbalism
appears as early as the present text of Ex. 3, 14.
M See
12, n. 112.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 113
Syriac bowls, which are probably of pagan origin, he may have already
become a common traditional figure like Moses in the papyri. Nippur had
23
been since the Exile a center of the Jews, and in Talmudic times it lay
truer to the theology of the sect than many of the so-called Jewish bowls.
The Jewish magic here in Nippur, as elsewhere, was eclectic. The religion
of the Jew cannot admit that it itself is eclectic, and the self-consciousness
of the intelligent orthodoxy in rejecting or at least minimizing magic as
part of the Jewish system, approves itself when we study our specimens
of magic ;
their science is as much cosmopolitan as native.
I pass now to another clue for the origins of the bowl-magic. I have
discussed under No. 3 the frequent references to the genius Armasa, who
is identified with Metatron and called the Word, and is none else than the
Hermes of the Hermetic theosophy. No. 28 is a magical philtre for a
"
See p. 55-
"
The
recent rapid development of the study of magic and the increased appli-
cation to the magical papyri have aroused in various quarters the question concerning
the nature of the Jewish magic and its relations to that of the Hellenistic world.
This investigation appears to have been first broached in a critical way by Blau
(pp. 37 ff., 96 ff.), followed by several writers whose works have been constantly
cited in the above pages Dieterich, Deissmann, Conybeare
:
(who considers the
Testament of Solomon to be of Jewish origin), Caster (in introduction to his Sword
of Moses), Reitzenstein, Heitmuller, Wendland. Our specimens of magic hail from
the eastern confines of that world, even from beyond its political borders, and are
speaking proofs of the eclectic and cosmopolitan character of Hellenistic magic.
"
Budge, Egyptian Magic, ch. v; Erman, Egyptian Religion (1907), 154. For
the influence of Egypt in the Hellenistic magic, see the excursus in Heitmuller, "Im
Nam en Jesu," 218.
"
In addition to the observations in II, see Budge, /. c.; Wiedemann,
Religion of the Ancient Egyptians (1897), 268, quoting Synesius's words: the
Egyptian "mumbled a few unintelligible syllables" also his Magie u. Zauberei im
;
alt. Agypten (1905), 32. The Greek papyri are faithful repeaters of this Egyptian
art. Stiibe, remarking on the kabbalistic use of letters (p. 54), thinks that here
we have traces of the passage from the Talmud to the beginnings of the develop-
ment of the Kabbala. But as of Egyptian origin or kinship, the use is not to be
dated by the Kabbala. It existed on the periphery of Judaism long before it was
taken up by the Jewish doctors. Indeed Chwolson (CIH, col. 115) denies any special
relation of these texts to Talmudic ideas (against Lenormant, Essai, i, 212, who held
that our magic was a product of the Babylonian academies). Wohlstein was the
first to observe the eclectic character of our magic, ZA, viii, 316 f. In matter of fact
hardly a trace of technical Kabbalism is to be found in them.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 115
soil of Egypt and thence sent forth its waves of spiritual energy to all the
effect, for the spirit of magic produces like fruits spontaneously everywhere.
magic, to which the Jews contributed, and from which they received still
more. The problem of these texts is the same that confronts us in specula-
tion over the Greek magical papyri. Who wrote these ? Egyptian, Jew,
Greek, Christian, Gnostic, all contributed each one his magical names,
of monotonous sameness. The texts were written for all who would use
them, and those who received their magical traditions adapted them to the
apocrypha and liturgy, were storehouses of magical lore. All this was fused
with like elements from parallel sources, and the product was useful to any
The bowls then are not so much illustrative of a special Jewish magic
as of the eclectic religious conditions of later Mesopotamia here the
;
ancient magic, divorced from its content of real religion, came to be rein-
forced by new currents of superstition from the West. Whatever be the
may observe the break-down of the ancient noble religions; gods have be-
come names, rites esoteric and selfish and malignant, holy writings formulas.
It is not Judaism we have been studying but a phase of fin de siecle super-
stition.
In recent years so much has been made of Persian origins for western
80
religion, philosophy, and magic, that I am surprised to find hardly a trace
even in a word" of the Zoroastrian system upon our bowl-magic. This is
the more remarkable as it belongs to Persian soil and flourished under the
Sassanian empire, while the dualism, demonology and magical practice of
Persia would have been so natural a nursing mother to the superstition we
have been studying. Had the Zoroastrian influence spent itself and, after
it had given itself to the world, did the more virile currents of the original
stock and of the West reassert themselves and triumph in Iran's territory?
*
See Cumont, The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism, esp. nn. 37-39, p.
266 f. ;Bousset, Die Ursprunge der Gnosis, etc.
" N. B. the
Ispandas-dewa in Hyvernat's text, and 3'iB, possibly the Persian
Peri. The arguments for Persian influences advanced by Levy, ZDMG, ix, 471 f.,
are now antiquated by the Babylonian literature. The fashion of interminable lists
of demons may come from Persia.
TEXTS, TRANSLATIONS, NOTES
CBS = Catalogue of Babylonian Section University of Pennsylvania.
Numerals in ( ) number the lines of the spiral inscription, starting from the
radius where the text begins.
Superior points, in the Syriac texts, represent the diacritical marks of the
original.
pa^ n^3B> (8) KOD m iiuenn nni>i imatJ' ^3 msx pnni> (7)
11 PDD tnu '3ai> Kn^'5>i (9) n't? pn^n parent [aijB'a mii>
'3BB'1-nK3 'I p5>3HO M rn B "> n>1B (10) KPM JO '1 linnm NHinj 5>
j
i
oi'3i J^K PB'JB'BI E> pnaaoi (11) pojaoi pa!>vi poon 'i poon
innnsi snais . . ^ poa
Exterior
(14) Q1D3 KDB'31 H^'i'n p33B> Kt^J'S '33 D^VI '"133 niBna 'B0i>l (13)
n'oen K33na (15) Njnjs '3^n'sn Ditf^n nB"3 sn'!"!" '3'!>j? n^nna 1^3 B>3
TRANSLATION
This the amulet of Ephra (2) bar Saborduch, wherein shall be (3)
salvation for this Ephra b. . and also (4) for this Bahmanduch bath
Sama, that there be for them (5) salvation, namely for this Ephra b.
(7) this Ephra b. S. and this Bahmanduch b. 5. (8) I adjure you, all
(117)
118 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
(10) fast-flying; woe, destroying; woe, oppressing with your foul wounds
. . . .
,
who do violence and trample and scourge and mutilate ( 1 1 ) and
break and confuse and hobble and dissolve (the body) like water; woe,
....; and where you stand, (12) and where you stand (sic) fearful and
affrighted are ye, bound to my ban, who appear to mankind, to men in
the likeness of women (13) and to women in the likeness of men, and
with mankind they lie by night and by day.
With the formula, TWM (14) g'S GS GSK, have I written against
thee, evil Lilith, whatsoever name be thine. We (15) have written. And
his name shall save thee, Ephra, forever and ever.
COMMENTARY
A phylactery in the name of a man and wife for protection against
the liliths and their broods which haunt the home. The same couple are
the subjects of the charm in No. 13, in which the woman invokes the love
of her husband and the blessing of children. For the general magical
details I refer in this and the following texts to the Introduction.
2. 'inn = TTTI, 1.
4; both forms in the Rabbinic.
Abraxas, 147.
4. iruona: see Justi, p. 374 f. ;
also in Pognon B.
XOD : in No. 13 also 'NDD. A frequent Jewish name; see Heilpren,
nnnn VID (Seder ha-Doroth), ed. Maskileison, Warsaw, 1883, ii, 296 f.
The two forms are hypocoristic; see Noldeke, art. "Names," Enc. Bib.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 119
50 f., Lidzbarski, Ephemeris ii, 7 ff., 13 ff. (For the early form and
history of these terminations, cf. the results of Ranke, Early Babylonian
Personal Names, 7 ff.). The full name was N'DD, "blind," occurring in
Jewish and Syriac. It occurs as a feminine name (as here) in Asseman's
Catalogue, cited by Payne-Smith, Thesaurus syriacus, col. 2655.
6. wvW :
pi., also KnN'W . The liliths are the only named objects
of exorcism, but masc. ppls., etc. are found in 1. 10 ff., probably by
technical phraseology.
rm / xm:
;
cf. Pcsah. nib : "TVT\ "ma 'n : "those which haunt caper-
berries are spirits.
cf. in the Assouan papyri of Sayce and Cowley, 'btO31 ^"13 (F, 9).
8. [Di]E'3 : if a correct restoration, the charm would obviate the
demoniac procreation described.
9. "Sons of light": X113 is primarily fire and the term would indicate
the angels, expressive of the legend that the angels emanate like sparks
30,and also to men predestined to life, Brandt, Mand. Schr., 13, 19. The
redeemed come to share in the light-nature of the angels, cf. Dan. 12: 3,
Enoch 38-39, cf. the viol <t>uT6f of the NT. In the myth of Adam Kadmon,
man was originally a being of light (Bousset, Hauptprobleme d. Gnosis,
202, etc.; for the Kabbala, Karppe, Zohar, 372 ff.). Hence we must sup-
pose that S113 has been reduced from sirtu "light" (cf. the Arabic), and
the expression is to be correspondingly rendered. The predicates follow-
ing recall the myth of Gen. 6.
'
pn'io, as in Syriac, but the is only the sewa; cf. 1. ii.
of Abaye in Hull. lo^b, Joel, Der Aberglaube, i, 69] be blown away, your
1
spices fly off, the wind carry away the fresh saffron." I doubt if so much
sense can be made out of the doggerel; following the Talmudic tradition
our phrase would mean "your breadcrumbs away with the gust!" By
itself the words could simply mean, "be blown away with a gust," with re-
p3 frpiJK'O : for the relaxing effects of disease cf. Ps. 22: 15, Eze.
7- 17-
1131021 pa'nra ,
a dittograph induced by the scribe turning over the
bowl to write on the exterior and repeating the word. The in the first '
form represents the sewa. The meaning is stay banned where you are : !
12. pTD' :
metaplastic form of root IDS, found in the Targums, etc.
POTO : cf. Kiddus. 8ia, KDJVN3 jt3D n*b "DTK . The climax of the
grammaton.
14. '3^, O'by: the form is singular,and the phrase refers to the
many names of a lilith (see u, 12 and No. 42).
With- tcrp^ it is difficult to determine whether the singular or plural
is meant. For "lilith of whatsoever name," cf. 14: 6: demons whose names
are mentioned and who are not mentioned. The same indefinite invocation
1
See Blau, Zauberwesen, 77. The connection of this Talmudic passage with Eze.
13: 17 ff. has not been observed by the commentators.
No. 2 (CBS 2945)
isp-ip S^PET KVVJ incip3 ^en '!n3 <srvBi3 nn pass rux :!>m ain
ea KJ^TVI K^QOI NUT KDOIKT Ktpui' K:B"3i>i [N'at] (2) tain nnip sbnan
moK nne 'aa-i^yai '"3 ijoa (3) pna n<jBi rpinx njnxi K'OB> mai
pa!) Kjsti"K 'Kirn la sa'K3i Nmnj na winxa rv2 pn^nn DVTD ni
in njusn nu pn'tsn inonnn DJTPD CST KJ'jn jn'v!>i NSB^KI KDH (4)
n'33 DVTD 3in pai> HJD^S snn^ ui (5) pa!) KJn^j xnt^p ^ noam rrnrvx:n
nn xa'sa is xnanj 13 nji3 HJX nn'3 rprm ^j'K !>33i
TRANSLATION
strength is in him who created heaven and earth. I have come and I have
smitten (3) the evil Fiends and the malignant Adversaries. I
have said to them that if at all you sin against Abuna bar Geribta and against
Ibba bar Zawithai, I will lay a spell upon you, the spell (4) of the Sea and
the spell of the monster Leviathan. (I say) that if at all you sin against
Abuna b. G., and against his wife and his sons, I will bend the bow against
you (5) and stretch the bow-string at you.
Again, whereinsoever you sin against the house of Pabak and against
his property and all the people of his house, in my own right I Abuna bar
Geribta or against Ibba bar Zawithai (6) will bringdown upon you
the curse and the proscription and the ban which fell upon Mount Hermon
and upon the monster Leviathan and upon Sodom and upon Gomorrha. In
order to subdue Devils (7) do I come, I Abuna b. G., and all evil Sacra-
(121)
122 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
ments and the tongue of impious Charm-spirits; I have come and smitten
the Demons and Devils and evil Tormentors, the Gods (Idol-spirits) and
female Goddesses standing in serried rows and encamped in camps.
COMMENTARY
A
mutual charm of two sorcerers, each invoking his powers in turn in
the other's behalf. An almost exact replica of the terms of the charm is
found in the first part of No. 27. The two men named appear in No. 3,
The name occurs in late Babylonian, Hilprecht and Clay, BE, ix, 68.
KVVJ = KDX'VJ, 27:3. Comparing the Rabbinic pa, "a shining spark,"
and "white earth, gypsum," and yrtli, "polish." I understand this word in
the sense of "polished armor."
and demons, as the ancient means for destroying their arts. In Babylonia
the fire-god Gibil was the chief god of exorcism in such magic, Tallquist,
Josephus' exorcist used an iron ring. For the western world, see Pauly-
Wissowa, Real-Encyc., i, 50.
his powers. Compare the assertion by the magician in the charm noteci
Moses, Aaron, David, Solomon, etc., and see above, 9. There is also
to be recalled the magical garment of Marduk in the fourth of the Seven
Tablets of Creation, while the magical robe which renders the wearer
invisible is common property of folklore.
K^DOI N'3T KDCns. NDO1K is found in the parallel bowl No. 27 (along
with the rest of this phrase) ;
in 19: 7; in 25: 4 pB^D NDD[ns]; in n :
7
in the spelling D'DtK; and in 7: 8, D'DTK = Myhrman, 1.
4, D'DTit. The
forms give the clue; D'mx one of the Syriac spellings for the Greek 'EPHK,
is
e. g. Peshitto to Acts 14: 12; D'Din also occurs in Syriac. NDD1X is then
the Hermes about whom gathered the extensive mystical cults and literature
towards the beginning of the Christian era to which is given the epithet
Hermetic. Summary reference may be made here to Reitzenstein's illum-
'Eppijv Uyov TOV vapa &eov ayyefatubv teyavaiv (Apol. i, 22 ; Migne, Patrol, gr., vi,
57-).
farther East, as the expressions cited from our bowls show. He is the
word x^oo (= xWo, 19: 7),' and the Metatron, that mysterious inter-
mediate agency between God and his creation in Jewish Gnosticism (cf.
13). But this Hermetic theology was not mediated to the Orient through
Judaism, but through the Hermetic schools, which appear to have held
out, into the twelfth century, in that obstinate center of paganism, Harran.
Chwolson has collected the evidence for the survival in that region of the
2
Greek religious philosophies, and Reitzenstein has now trenchantly pointed
1
The 'Ep/iifc Uytof or Uyiov : Reitzenstein, op. cit., 43 ; Abt, Apologie des Apuleius,
118.
*
In his Die Ssabier und der Ssabismus, 1856. See now Dozy and de Goeje,
124 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
out (p. 166 ff.) the essential Hermetic quality of this last remnant of the
old pagan philosophy. The magic of the Euphrates valley has caught up
probably from Harran the figure of Hermes and easily identified it with
the Jewish Metratron, the biblical Enoch, etc." Hermes was the equivalent
of the Babylonian Nebo, and a passage in the Mandaic Ginza throws light
The K^oo of our text is then a proper epithet of NDcnN. What is meant
by the preceding epithet K'31 ? It occurs in the parallel text, and also in
Stiibe's text, 1. 5, thus: rw mt6o jntSD'O. I suggest that nun (sol)
means "who-is-in-Yah," an ancient mystical expression for the Logos; cf.
the Johannine ^pot rbv &e6v, and the description of the Son as "in the
bosom of his Father," and, "I am in the Father and the Father in me."
Compare also 7: 8, lira w, and note.
3. nno (cf. 4:4), reminiscent of the biblical 'D aop, for which see
Joel, i, 100.
KmnJ: "scabby"; cf. Gareb, 2 Sa. 23: 38, and the Palmyrene K3nJ,
de Vogue, Syrie centrale, no. 141 ; also the Arabic Juraib, Jarba.
WS: the same name in Seder ha-Doroth, ii, 45. The form is shortened
from Abba, see Lidzbarski, Ephemeris, ii, 8.
NJB'B'K: the verb is found in the Aramaic only in the Syriac, and but
rarely, and in the bowls occurs only here.
Nouveaux documents pour I'etude de la religion des Harraniens, in the Actes of the
6th International Congress of Orientalists, II, i, 281.
*
Bar-Hebraeus, Chron., ed. Kirsch, p. 5, where Hermes and Enoch are identified
"by Greek books" also a reference in Reitzenstein, p. 172, n. 3, to a Hermetic MS.
;
01 NDH KSE"X: the spell on the sea and Leviathan was mightiest in
magical history, for it was the first great act of "white magic" ;
cf . the.
Job 38: 8-1 1, which concludes: "And He said: thus far shalt thou come
and no farther, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed" cf Jcr. 5 22, ;
. :
Ps. 104: 6 ff., Job 38: 8 ff. The subjection of the abyss is a frequent
magical allusion in the papyri, e. g. the Great Magical Papyrus of Paris,
1.
3062 ff. (Dieterich, Abraxas, 140; Blau, p. 113; Deissmann, Light, 258).
The sealing of Tehom is referred to in Targ. Jon. Ex. 28: 30.
4. incnnn : the scribe began to write the perfect, passed into the
imperfect (which we should expect here) with the second letter and re-
turned to the perfect termination; he amended his mistake by rewriting
the word. In general the scribes aimed at carefulness. A word so
'Jl Kne>p '3: '3 a form of -3 found in Targums and Talmud (also
in the Palestinian charm cited to 1.
i). The terms are reminiscent of
Marduk's slaying of Tiamat in the Babylonian creation legend "Marduk :
cf. the praise of Marduk's bow in the fifth tablet (King, Seven Tablets of
Isr.-jiid. Eschatologie, 78, would read nae>N for BBBT3). As in 1. i with the
clothing of Deity, so here with his magical arms the magician declares
himself invested. But the phraseology may be based on magical practice,
a symbolical shooting at simulacra, in the same way as these are burnt,
WSO IX: this name was omitted in its proper place and is now inserted.
the mount Hermon, because they had sworn and bound themselves by
curses upon it" ; also 14 :
7 ff. Philo of Byblus also connects the Titans with
the Lebanons and other mountains of Syria : "These begat sons of greatest
size and superiority, whose names were given to the mountains which they
occupied, so that some of them are called Kassion and Libanos and Anti-
5
libanos and Brathu." And Hilary of Poitiers adds something to our
knowledge of the myth "Hermon is a mountain in Phoenicia, the interpre-
:
is found in this sense (cf. the biblical place-name D'TBl). IBID occurs in
a MS. cited by Rabbinowicz to Mcgilla lob h& 1TB10 JV3, where 'O : WK
= Hebrew nrat?.' The variant in 27: 11, HBIO nam, parallel to 'D nTD,
is probably the correct form. The allusion to the serried battalions of the
demons is epical, perhaps of mythological origin.
'
Eusebius, Praep. Ev. i, 10: 7; text in C. Miiller, Fragm, hist, grace, iii, 566.
'
Hilary to Ps. 132 :
3, see Corpus script, eccles, latin., xxii, 689.
'
So on Jastrow's authority, Dictionary of the Targurnim, the Talmud, etc., 1476,
but I do not find the reference.
No. 3 (CBS 2963)
Knanni> Kine> Konm KPI KID'S pnn JBTO 'ami nan K'DN KnxiDK no n,De>a
XB"a JDDI Kea Kin rpjpn pnnnM mn nripanin na MTIK (2) pnnn nwan
ntoa niio nn<Ki n^nn'K miD snaa (3) iDpn Knaa max poysv
<yiaB>Ki n>Kna IOIK IDIK K'Wai Koon pn^'K pai pmaK po
n'nn'K nnK ni^o int'min na MTIK pin rv hop^n sh n^
n'l pn^ja n 1 IJIBPTI K^I (5) n^ya 'ITIK m^o 'lana na nnx
KBD^a K!>I K^'b K!> nhyi>i pn KQV po pn5> pm pai p.n5> n^T pa
oys ion ntntnt tap: ion (6) nan tan ysDysoyD non ion non yryryti rr
jvpo Km^P' Knt!"K PD n^nsi' nav inoK pp PDPD JDPD DIEQ JDK sj'E'Dia
im n'O' yoB* (9) nai n'j^a I"m Kmo IK^DI. Kan Kotr [Kin pnn]
not? pnna nu WIBTI IK Kn^a pnnn. n'onp poi 'manp pn ybn'm pny
n'nn^K nnK anp pai n;n[t'Dnin. na MTIK nnp po] [n*r]D i"nnn xan
nnos oitrai ICK K'B'oia pn5> pnni pn> n<tn paii pja nnp poi (10) iiana na
a[n KDE' Kin pnn] po popo IDPD Knn'p' Kne"K pa n^nav nai> nav
pa 'monp pa yi>ann:i pny i"nn (11) n^n' yaB> nai nora 5"nn snia ixbon
nnK (12) pn swa Kin. pia'i pnyi i>im' an KDty pnn oitra Knt^n *IN
noNJtj' en?Dia pni> pnni pni> n^Kn pan pja ba onp poi nana na n-nn'K
nt Kl>n] D5>E>in'3 n^man ia mrr nyr \oon ia nin^ nyr itaon i>K mni nox 11
!
TRANSLATION
Designated is this spell and mystery and strong seal for the sealing
of the household of this (2) Ardoi bar Hormizduch, that from him may
depart and remove the evil Demon and the evil Satan, who is called SP'SK,
(127)
128 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
the Mighty Destroyer, who kills (3) a man from the side of his wife
and a woman from the side of her husband, and sons and daughters from
their father and from by day and by night onto, omo,
their mother,
walking. (4) I adjure thee that thou do not kill off this Ardoi b. H. from
Ahath his wife, and that thou do not kill off Ahath bath Parkoi from
Ardoi her husband, (5) and that thou do not kill off their sons and their
daughters, whether those they have or those they shall have, from this
day and forever, neither by night nor by day. In the name of Z'Z'Z', HSR,
HSR, HSR, P'SP'SP', TMR, TMR, (6) TMR, NKT, ZHZHZH,
HSR, P'S, TMR, KIC, 'STW, YWPT, YWPTYH, from the burning fire,
SKSYN, SYN, SYN, SKYWN SK, his name KS his name. This is the ;
great name before which the angel of death is afraid, (7) and when he
hears it, frightened he flees and is swallowed up before and (just so)
it
before this Ardoi b. H. shall he fear and flee [and from] Ahath his
wife, bath P., and from all their sons and from (8) all their daughters,
whether those they have or those they shall have. PWTSS, Amen. In
the name of KK, 'STW, YWPT, YWPTYH, from the burning fire,
SKSN, SKSYN, SKYWN, [This is] the great name before which
the angel of death is afraid and when (9) he hears it, frightened he flees
and is swallowed up before it and before this household. Moreover now
in this great name of which is afraid [the angel of death, etc. he shall
flee from ArdoiH.] and from Ahath his wife b.
b. P., (10) and from sons
and daughters, those they have and those they shall have. PWTSS,
Amen. In the name of 'STW, YWPT, etc. [This is the great name]
before which the angel of death is afraid, and when he hears it (n)
frightened he flees and is swallowed up so moreover now on the authority
;
of this great name shall fear and flee and go forth the evil Demon
COMMENTARY
A charm for a man and his family against a murderous spirit. The
charm consists in magical syllables constituting "this great name" and the
these bowls of the deity invoked, along with 'Dim xai WDK, e. g. 7: i.
Cf. the frequent invocation in Pognon's bowls : K'DXDT N"DN DiOK, N'DX HXJX
xnKD'EJ, etc. The theme nox is equivalent to "^u i n the New Testament
and Latin salus, German Heil, for which modern English offers no syno-
nym, the good old word "health" having been specialized. The word
implies a remedy against evil spirits and black magic. It is also used
1
Marduk is god of love and life, Ea is a-si-e.* And the 'exact equivalent of
K3T X'DX found as an epithet of Gula, the consort of Ninib: azugallatu
is
beltu rabitu, "Great Healer, Mighty Mistress"; and of Bau, who became
1
identified with Gula, e. g. asitu gallatu. Ninib was domiciled at Nippur
and these epithets of his consort may have been particularly Nippurian,
and so have survived in the bowls coming from that locality. I have not
been able to discover the parallel masculine epithet for Ninib.' This
invocation is doubtless pagan, being distinct from the numerous biblical
379, and Ex. 15: 26, IXST nirv '3X. Also n. b. the common epithets for
1
La magie ass., Fossey, 323, 365, 369; n. b. his title remenu.
'
This reference I have not been able to verify.
'
III R, 41, col. 2: 29; Delitzsch, Hwb., I97a; Schrader, KB, iv, 78.
4
R. C. Thompson, PSBA, 1908, 63.
'
Radau (BE xvii, pt. I, p. ix) endeavors to find the same title for Ninib in his
explanation of the Aramaic rendering of NIN-IB, IWIJK (see Clay, JAOS xxviii, 1907,
135, and Montgomery, ibid., xxix, 204). He interprets it as en-usati, "lord of
=
help," our very title (cf. Delitzsch, Beitr'dge z. Ass. i, 219, for equivalence of AZU
with asu), and with the same root. The interpretation would be very agreeable to
me in view of the above remarks, but Radau omits to explain the Aramaic rendering
of i (or e) by V when the Aramaic has the root D, while Clay's explanation appears
to me the more satisfactory.
130 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
the love of God (V nrn) in the O. T. and Koran, also in the Palmyrene
texts.' Pradel has collected in his Griech. u. sudital. Gcbete, 42 f., a
number of the epithets denoting the healing and merciful character of God;
he is there iarpof iln>x" v , Ifor/pav, etc.
For Nnonn as a pa"al formation see Noldeke, Mand. Grant., 121. Cf.
the Mandaic forms and formula cited by Lidzbarski, Eph. i, 96, n. i :
KmXDJOi xnwisri xnDsnxn. The "charm, mystery, seal," are identical, and
refer to the Great Name of the incantation. For the identity of name and
seal, sec Heitmiiller, "7m Namen Jesu," 143, 150, etc.
Class, of the Vienna Academy, 1888, p. 387.). The name is formed from
one of the numerous Persian names in ard- or art-; it occurs in Myhrman's
text, see his note, p. 349.
np, or rip = j?P, from jnr or yyt; but as np, from nnr (found in
Heb., E.r. 28: 28, cf. the Aramaic rw), see the forms Jimr,io:6, Jinp,
"Demon, Satan, Destroyer," all epithets of the one demon; cf. above
PDJJBS : with reversal of the alphabetic order of the first four letters
to indicate the bouleversement of the demon?
K13J max : abbdda gabbdrd, abbdd not otherwise found ; for the forma-
tion cf. Noldeke, Syr. Gram., 115. Notice that the Hebrew and Greek
Abaddcn is represented in Rev. by 6 a.Kok'Kvwv, as though the original was a
noun of agent, not an abstract. The epithet Jrnt'on ixbon, 2 Sa. 24: = 16,
'
Baethgen, Beitrage, 82 f., Lidzbarski, Handbuch, 153.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 131
I^KflD 1O1K 1O1X : thus the uncanny stealthy movements of the demon
are expressed.
jn: appears only in this phrase, so 16: 13, 19: 20, is archaic and
seldom in Talmud ;
for the ptonouns see end of Glossary C.
of demons in general cf. the Paris Magical Papyrus, 1. 1227 ff. (ed.
xlii,' 65, ad infra: the God of Israel whom the heavens bless and (the
*
"Neue griech. Zauberpapyri" in Denkschriften of the Vienna Academy, phil.-
hist. Class, xlii, 2 : his earlier publication in vol.xxxvi is cited as "xxxvi."
132 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
deep, hell, heaven," etc. Cf. Heitmiiller, pp. 148, 231, for citations from
the Fathers, and Pradel, p. 40 f., for Greek magic. Dieterich regards
this trembling before the Name as of Orphic origin, p. 141.
The bowl CBS 16093 is almost identical in text with this one, and
bears the same design. It is about two-thirds as long. Its clients are the
practically the same as the present text, but shorter, with the same design,
also made out for the clients of Nos. 32 and 35.
No. 4 (CBS 2923)
B'J' |
K i>33 pna pbaoj s<b 'boaxi nana na NJiaxa pna iion'n !>...
rrnu n[nno ]Dinmbio'o oou K!>I K'S"i>3.i> 'xn^eia 13 (6) paxan rrrva
pnx (7) H3DJ n'i>mBni n'BpJ rpjm HJK n^ nmn KB'njT xa^ Kmtyi nra nnn
13 tn*n n.nna
TRANSLATION
Covers to hold in sacred Angels and all evil Spirits and the tongue
of impious Amulet-spirits. Now you are conquered, you are charmed;
charmed, you are charmed and sealed in each one of the four (2) corners
of his house. You shall not sin against Pabak bar Kufithai, nor shall any
do folly against him, against all the people of his house, either
by night
nor (3) by day; because I have bound you with an evil charm and a sure
[seal]. Again, I have charmed you with the charm with which Enoch was
charmed by Again I charm you with an evil and
his wicked brothers.
galling charm
seal.
Again, (4) you with the seal with which were
I
charmed the Seven Stars and the Twelve Signs of the Zodiac unto the
great day (5) of judgment, and to the great hour of the redemption of
your heads you shall not : . . .
,
nor sin against them, against Abiina bar
Geribta, and none shall at all do folly against them, namely the people
of the household of Pabak (6) b. K., neither by night nor by day, because
well sealed is his house and well armed, and with a great wall of
(133)
134 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
bronze have I surrounded it. I, what I desire I grasp, and what I ask I
take. (7) You are in the place of Abuna b. G. and in the place of Pabak
b. K.
COMMENTARY
A general charm against all evil spirits, made out for the Pabak of No.
3. The introductory lines are of interest as they definitely settle the use of
these bowls (8). The design represents the sorcerer waving his bough,
see p. 55.
m e
tall tha,
c
m e
talle, or matt e lef the '
probably represents the pronunciation
mctt c
le. The second word ba'O is the infinitive of TO, "contain," whose
original meaning is retained in the Hebrew, even in the sense of holding
3 . 'Ji ira n^oso : we find here the idiom of the active use of the
'ins : "his brother" and "his brothers" have the same spelling, differ-
ing as -tihi and ohi; the forms in -ui, 6i are Mandaic, and also Palestinian.
1
See Noldeke, Syr. Gram., S 59.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 135
1
Legenden der Musselmanner, p. 62, a compilation from manuscript sources.
According to these legends Enoch (Idris), who foretold the flood, suffered
at the hands of the wicked Cainites, even as Abraham was made a martyr
for his faith. Our passage must refer to some spell laid upon Enoch by
his adversaries. The early Samaritan theologian Marka (fourth century)
cites a book of the Wars of Enoch, which may have contained these tradi-
tions." A spell laid by the wicked on a saint was a fortiori potent; see
above, p. 64, for other apocryphal examples. For Enoch in incantations, cf.
19: 17.
pPiWD: the word is written twice; in the first case the scribe emitted
the X, then inserted it above the line, and on second thought rewrote the
word correctly. It is the Syriac and Mandaic KDK^NO. The first '
is unique ;
it is to be classed with the phenomena noticed by Noldeke, Mand.
Gram., 223, where, e. g. -yun for -un.
Tim Nnytr, xm NOV : cf. "the great day," Hexaplaric Syriac to Is.
1:13, the New Testament "that day and that hour," the Syrian Ephrem's
expression, "the hour of judgment" (ed. Lamy, iii, 583), and the Arabic
"the hour." For the feminine form T)3"i, see Noldeke, Mand. Gram., 145.
myths concerning the relation of the Seven Stars (the planets with sun
and moon) and the twelve zodiacal signs, with the creator of the kosmos.
There were two distinct developments in this mythology ;
in the polytheistic
Marduk became monarch, or, as in Israel's faith Yahwe is the sole God,
stress is laid upon the antithesis between the Creator-God and those
celestial divinities. The present regulated orbits of the planets and the
fixed positions of the zodiacal constellations signify that these beings, once
1
For the later Jewish Enoch literature see Jew. Enc. i, 676.
'
See Montgomery, The Samaritans, 224.
136 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
being bound in prison. For the later theology the Book of Enoch is a good
the beginning of their origin transgressed the command of God for they
did not come forth at their time. Then he became angry at them, and
bound them for 10,000 years, till when their sin is accomplished"
the time
(cf. 21 :
6). The "spirits in prison" of i Pet. 3: 18 ff. is in line with the
same notion, depending directly upon Is. 24: 21 ff., and we may compare
the invidious use of "planets" in Jude 13, in the expression amep^ ^avjjrai.^
But our text also bears witness to another development of the myth.
The "binding" of the Seven Stars and the zodiacal signs was for a fixed
term. According to the passage quoted from Enoch, it was for 10,000
years. In the Isaianic passage, a term is fixed : "after many days shall
5
they be visited." In Peter the ancient myth is revived in the notion of
Christ preaching to the spirits in prison. It is left somewhat obscure what
shall take place when "they shall be visited," or when "their sin is ac-
text the term of "the great day" and "the great hour" is evidently to be
one of release to the stars bound in prison. There appears to be applied
here the idea of a universal Apokatastasis. Now for this notion of the
4
See Bousset, Hauptprobleme der Gnosis, c. i, "Die Sieben." In the Mandaic
system the seven planets and twelve signs have become utterly evil. In this line
of thought, taken up by magic, there is, I think, an open anthesis to astrological
fatalism.
apparently continues the theme of the release of the captive gods : "He
(Marduk) goes down he rises to approach the prison. He
to the prison,
opened the gate of the prison, he comforts them. He looked upon them
then, all of them; he rejoices. Then the captive gods looked upon him.
is used in parallelism with nox, etc., in preventive magic. The verb means
in the Aramaic dialects "to arm." But Pognon (B, 74) assumes for the
noun NDTJOSt the meaning "admonition," and Lidzbarski (Eph. i, 96, n.)
the sense of "binding up" a letter, etc. But there is no necessity in depart-
ing from the common meaning; it refers to the magical armament of persons
and things with power to resist the forces of evil ;
so a passage in the G'mza :
possessed atropaic use in magic, like the other metals; cf. 15: 7, and see
penrpm jnrn meo pB>T6 pe"ni>i piD'p nwi po>nn vs'nm PTDK n<[D]
na ivmx m 'acna m in:v:i ana 12 TOBI n . . rrrp3 po
nanai noxi TTI n<e> 5>ai Knt53 (V) xn^' i
i> !>3 (2) pnj'D nwv
rvTDK 'JD nvnj'o 5>3i pE^pn pi3W ptru pt^im snnpi
Kt'3 no pis ^s nunii'NT rrospu penn nyatra (3) pn'D'nm p
..... li t<2ipn KJDD IDT sriB"3 wy ID uB'ia (4) ro injvj n'i '3tyia 13
mrr 'a ^y (5) r6o ptc p^ n3 n mrr c.iB'3 tauin torn S3B"3
*?* nin 1
iDK'i HB^D T>3 nw '2 S>y not? mrp nic-B'!: nx iyo' mn 1
(V) niK m K^n D'^n'S Tmsn 13 (6) nin' nyr jtson 13 rn,T nyr p
TRANSLATION
Wholly charmed and sealed and bound and enchanted [are ye], that
ye go away and be sealed and depart from the house [and property?] of
Farruch bar Pusbi and Newanduch bath Pusbi and Abanduch bath
Pusbi, and that there depart from them (2) all evil Liliths and all Demons
and Devils and Spells and Idol-spirits, and the Vow and the Curse and the
Invocation, and evil Arts and mighty Works and everything hostile. Ye
are bound with the seven spells and sealed (3) with the seven seals in
the name of Eldedabya Abi Ponan, lord of spoil and curse ..... I conjure
against you in the name of the great Prince, that thou keep Farruch b. P.
and Newanduch b. P. (4) from the Evil Eye and from the mighty Satan.
and from . . and from the many Satyrs in the road of Hamad, in the
.
(138)
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 139
to the mouth of YHWH they would encamp, and according to the mouth
of YHWH they would march; the observance of YHWH they kept accord-
ing to the mouth of YHWH by Moses." "And YHWH said to Satan :
YHWH rebuke thee, Satan, YHWH rebuke (6) thee who chose Jerusalem.
Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?" Amen, Amen, Selah.
COMMENTARY
A general incantation against evil spirits for a man and his two sisters.
error for p'tip. fVfb, the only instance of this verb in the bowl-texts.
ins: cited by Payne Smith, col. 3246; cf. Farruchan and composites
in farruch, Justi, p. 95 f. '3B>1B?
m :
by heedlessness of construction ; cf. 1.
3.
2. noN : the place of the term in the list shows that the charms were
regarded as personal entities. Cf. above, p. 86.
7 trees, 7 nails from 7 bridges," etc., etc. For this magical number in the
Talmud, see Blau, pp. 73, 86, who quotes the Jewish maxim
"The great Prince": the technical title for Michael (see p. 97). It is
the following adjurations are in Hebrew. The double use of rpyaE'K intro-
denoting magical binding could be used indifferently of the good and evil
genii. The angel is adjured in Hebrew, which according to belief was the
only tongue the angels knew.
140 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
4. "The hobgoblins in the way of Hamad, the many"; cf. the Rodwell-
bility of this quotation lies in its triple use of the efficacious word 1DB> (as
above in 1.
3). Hence the magical use of such Psalms as the I2ist, I22d,
the Aaronic Blessing, etc. Later Kabbalism, found in the theme the abbre-
viation of ninn D'pno cne*, see Schwab, Notices et Extraits of the Paris
National Library, xxxvi, I (1899), 288.
7. There is no evident sense in these words around the figure. rtynx and
IK'S are reminiscent of the interpretation of the Name, B.v. 3:14; r6nb =
"avaunt"?, ne>o = Moses.
No. 6 (CBS 2916)
noini'i Kwa 'rmbi (2) narvaiM IJDD^ 'inl>i n^ pn!> pe>aan
na nnKTi iinn 12 mm pro^y piin Knap'Ji (3) nan Nrp^i'i ^a'Pi
1OT3 pn5> toTBi pnnaiaD' i'V pavn prrnaua (4) tntjni pinery piin
KBVI w 5>aai 'rwa ^va pni> JBaa (5) pnn xtya^ai P^DPI t~n jnoi im
jwTjn ':E> pn^ia' (6) nn xnc'i ini 1
jin^a'n tnn xni'1 'or pn^ia^o pin
sjo'nm sjnxvi SJT SJT p.n^na nEJiao'xa pni> wnani wmi u^y pn!>ia'D pn
yap p5>n awa pni> NJtyaa pin wa'ai pmrs
(7) PTV pn^v
i'ai jirvnn'B
snj'j'n (8) oiB'a iai!si pDtt"3 sin cwa pna p^'aa nyisi K'DBn p^o
rnt^a mm xn^^cn DIBO laE'o sn^ym Dwa i"anO' sn^n^n m^a
I>3 pBoamn tina y tj"aa (9) pmn ptya^a sn^yae' dwa
jitnnn xh xn^oi ^a^Pi 'DMI napiji nan n^^i Kn^JTt noim
5>i n^'i'T Koi^na 6 !>i
(10) 'inwn na nnsi'.i ^inxn na pnsS }ini>
pnua p5>op'n K^I pn^otyn Niti'D^ pnj^nn Kno^o!' panp'n K!>I son ^nrtra
5>jn [m D^iy^ in war ID pn5> Mmi piti
1
(11) n^sn pnj'jj'p ^aa poW'n K^I
Dt'oa nt'Ji NJ'a u nos'ji stis 'a NPS^J i2p K^ pn pi>m na^j stj^a jnn
pn nor IOT nan 5>iKt? ya^a nnn inui (12) K'OB> '^vja n^p ^T3
n^o JDS JBN
TRANSLATION
A press which is pressed down upon Demons and Devils and Satans
and impious Amulet-spirits and Familiars and Counter-charms and Liliths
male (3) and female, that attach themselves to Adak bar Hathoi and Ahath
bath Hathoi that attach themselves to them, and dwell (4) in their arch-
ways, and lurk by their thresholds, and appear to them in one form and
another, and that strike and cast down and kill. And this press (5) I
press down upon them days and in months and in all years, and this
in
day out of all days, and this month out of all months, and this year (6)
out of all years, and this season out of all seasons. And I come and put
a spell for them in the thresholds of this their house, and I seal and bind
them. Fastened up are their doors (7) and all their roof.
(141)
142 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYI/)NIAN SECTION.
repressed Spirits and impious Amulet spirits and Liliths male and
all evil
female and Familiars and Counter-charms and Words, that they appear
not to Adak b. H. and to Ahath b. H. ( 10) and to neither in
dream by night nor in sleep by day, and that they approach neither their
right side nor their left, and that they kill not their children, and that
they have no power over their property, what they have ( 1 1 ) and what they
shall have, from this day and forever.
And whoever will transgress against this press and does not accept
these rites, shall split asunder violently and burst in the midst, and the
sound of him shall resound with the resonance of brass in the spheres of
heaven, (12) and his abode shall be in the seventh (?) hell of the sea,
from this day and forever. Amen, Amen, Selah.
COMMENTARY
A charm in behalf of a couple (each with a mother of the same name)
and their household; the incantation consists in seven magical words, and
concludes with a threat against any who destroy the bowl and ignore its
ban.
2. 'D'J ,
also 12: 9, in both places before ^3'p. Out of several
(cf. 34: 4), and then one who is familiar (Jastrow, s. v.~), hence = the
accompanies the bewitched man, Noldeke, ZDMG, xli, 717. And cf. the
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 143
24), see van Vloten, WZKM, vii, 182 ff., ND'J could be the Syriac word
for marauding troop, an appropriate description for a demoniac species,
but the meaning given above is more appropriate in the context.
"insn: cf. the Syriac name Hathi, "my sister," cited by Payne Smith,
col. 1408, here with the Persian diminutive ending.
lintel, so Payne-Smith, col. 670; radically the word refers to the arch of
IDT 1012: the same phrase in the Mandaic, Noldeke, Mand. Gram.,
216, 2.
5. For the selection of a special day for the exorcism, see p. 55.
6. xrm :
unique form; btK is treated in some forms as though TTX,
Kmn : the only occurrence in the bowls of this ancient magical term.
The root "ilV is used here not in its Aramaic sense.
was perilous, especially for those in the fields; in the Greek superstition
this was the chosen time for attacks by the satyrs and fauns, whose place
was taken in Jewish legend by the 'Tie 3Dp a demon representing sun-
stroke, etc. See Grunbaum, ZDMG, xxxi, 251 f., and Roscher, Ephialtes.
four deities surround the sorcerer, in front and back, at right and left, ibid.,
Mandaic forms.
12. "In the seventh hell" (with awkward use of the numeral) in
contrast to the seventh heaven. For the seven hells, see Eisenmenger, ii,
302, 328 f.
No. 7 (CBS 16007)
This bowl is a replica to that published by Dr. Myhrman of Upssala
(No. 16081), see above p. 20. The latter is more perfect than my text,
in fact almost the only perfect one in the collection; for this reason and
also for the value of comparing the numerous variants I give the two
texts in parallel, making such emendations as appear necessary in the first-
published text, which amount chiefly to the proper grammatical distinction
of yod and zvaw and he and heth. It may be observed that the designs in
the two bowls differ: in 16007 merely a circle enclosing a cross, in 16081,
a linear figure, the stem surmounted by a head capped, at the other end a
pitchfork-like termination (the forked tail of the demon?), while four rays
represent the limbs. On either side of the figure are three characters like
the Greek s, or looked at from the side like &, with which we may compare
the tf's shuffled into Pognon's texts, see p. 60. For convenience of refer-
ence I give the same line-numbering to Myhrman's text as to my own.
In the commentary I make such few notes as are necessary on Dr.
(145)
146 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
mas a poi nTiTi poi nw3 ro i>3 IDI xnn pnn n!>i3 to
<nm
P33 po
3i (11) (11)
bi
nsna
i>3l 331 5>3i
^3i n3]ns
(12) (12)
n2y x^ n^nitso S>y BO'K 131 i3y vb nimtDo !> {?j' 131 Ki
<TB> xpaxi
>3[1] JDTBl
nioi3i Noam svpie* mmu xnin nimm Koom
niBi3i (15) KEI nnnsi Nina moT3i (15)
jrj imi im
PBI rprnn pni rpnu pa 10
pni
ns K pn> prnn^n
je Keen ID KODH
n^D JDK IO n^o JCK IS
TlJ/1
TRANSLATION
In thy name, O Lord of salvations, (2) the great Saviour of love.
I bind to thee and seal (3) and counterseal to thee, the life, house and
property of this Yezidad (4) bar Izdanduch; in the name of the great
God, and with the seal of Shadda El, (5) and by the splendor of Sebaoth,
and by the great glory of the Holy One that all ... Demons and all :
mighty Satans remove and betake themselves and go out (6) from the
house and from the dwelling and from the whole body of this Yezidad
b. I.
(7) Again I bind to thee (Myhrman, to you) and seal and counterseal
to thee (M. to you) the and house and property and bedchamber of
life
Yezidad (8) b. I., in the name of Gabriel and Michael and Raphael, and
in the name of the angel 'Asiel and Ermes (Hermes) the great Lord. [In
148 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
the name of Yahu-in-Yahu] (9) and the great Abbahu and the great
Abrakas (Abraxas), the guardian of good spirits and destroyer of evil
spirits, I guard to thee (M. to you) the life, house, dwelling (10) and
against you (M. them) all evil Arts (n) and all (magic) Circles and all
Necklace-spirits and all Invocations and all Curses and all Losses and all
. . . and all sore Maladies and all evil Satans and all Idol-spirits and all
Lo, this mystery is for frustrating you, Mysteries, Arts, and enchanted
Waters and Bowls and Knots and Vows and Necklace-spirits
Hair-spirits,
and Invocations and Curses (14) and evil Spirits and impious Amulet-
spirits. And now, Demons and Demonesses and Lilis and Liliths and
Plagues and evil Satans and all evil Tormentors, which appear and all
evil Injurers in the likeness of vermin and reptile and in the likeness of
beast and bird (15) and in the likeness of man and woman, and in every
likeness and in all fashions : Desist and go forth from the house and from
the dwelling and from the whole body of this Yezidad b. I. and from
Merduch his wife b. B., and from their sons and their daughters and all
the people of their house, (16) that ye injure them not with any evil
injury, nor bewilder nor amaze them, nor sin against them, nor appear to
them either in dream by night or in slumber by day, from this day and
forever. Amen, Amen, Selah.
And again I swear and adjure (17) thee: May the great Prince expel
thee, he who breaks thy body and removes thy tribe. And by the seventy
Men who hold seventy sickles, wherewith to kill all evil Demons and to
destroy all impious Tormentors, are they cast prostrate in troops and
thrown on their beds. Amen, Amen, Selah, Halleluia.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TfiXTS. 149
COMMENTARY
A charm made out for a man, his wife and household, against all
manner of demons.
A comparison of these bowls, each written by a facile scribe with a
well formed ductus, throws light on the history of the transmission and
development of our magical inscriptions. Myhrman's text is shorter, in
the other an appendix has also been added addressed against some particular
but unnamed demon. The spelling in M. is more archaic, avoiding matres
is done "to you" throughout, but in my text "to thee" (1. 2, etc.). This
three names of "the great God" Elaha, Shaddai and Sebaoth, the magician
regarded them as a trinity of deities, just as in the magical papyri these
Jewish (and other) divine names are invoked as so many deities (see
1
text has clung to the form, but misunderstanding it has read W5 (i. e. }iab =
13^ =
'sb 'a'^ =
and I suppose made it refer to the following fem-
") ,
inine traj, or to some feminine demon. For the same reason it reads,
its original, in which the deities invoked are the names of the Jewish
God, has fallen into more orthodox hands and produced our monotheistic
1
Cf., among the seven planetary spirits of the Ophites (Origen, C. Cels., vi, 31)
law, Za/3au#, A<fuva<of, Ehuaiof, the "angels" Aiuvai, BOOT/J^, Iao t
Dieterich, Abraxas,
182, 1. 12; also in Pradel's Christian texts, Sabaoth and Adonai are found among
angel-names (p. 47).
150 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
text, leaving but a trace or two of its original source. Such are the com-
plications of this magic!
i . The opening singular invocation does not agree with the following
plural in M.
IKTr 1
149, thinks the Syriac form an error, but our text confirms it. Our word
could be Semitic = "n IT. Also note Izeddad in Justi, p. 147.
5. VTV: plural, "the rays of light." This and the following term
represent Hebrew 1133.
8. For the angels, see 13; for four angels (cf. the four gods sur-
rounding the magician Babylonian magic; see above, on 6: 10) see Luek-
in
irra in' cf. Stiibe, 1. rrarp rrotrn Pognon B, no. 5, N'3 rr X'3l,
:
15 ;
;
Samaritans (Montgomery, JBL, 1906, 50, n. 5), and used in the magical
texts current at Mossoul (PSBA, xxviii, 97). I think the doubled term
here is theosophic: Yah-in-Yah; cf. the Christian Logos-doctrine and its
"
9. inax, and P 3 12 below, 1. 12, probably correctly diagnosed by
Myhrman as exalted sorcerers' names; see above p. 47. For the two
Amoraim Abbahu, see Jew. Enc., s. v. A suggestion in another line is
possible for Abbahu. King in his Gnostics and their Remains' London,
1887, 246, says that the Pantheus or representation of the pantheistic Deity
of the Gnostics, appearing on the Gnostic gems, "is invariably inscribed
with his proper name IAS2 and his epithets ABPAEA2 and 2ABAH6 and often
accompanied with invocations such as .... ABAANAOANAABA, 'thou art our
"
Father.' Our Abbahu may represent this epithet and the passage would
accordingly preserve three of the Gnostic designations of Deity Yahu, :
Father, Abraxas. For Abraxas see above, p. 57, and for treatments of
the subject and bibliographies the articles "Abrasax" in Hauck's Realencyk.,
Jewish Encyc., and especially the splendid monograph by Leclercq, in
Dictionnaire de I'archeologie chretienne, etc. Variants in the bowls arc
D'DSias and D'313N. These forms represent Abraxas as against the original
form Abrasax, hence I use the former word in the present volume. Myhr-
man remarks (p. 345) : "As over against the view of Blau-Kohler (Jew.
Enc. i, I3ob) this would prove to be at least 'a single reliable instance' of
rived stems.
Tin :
recalling the Jewish "good demons," see above, p. 76.
magic.
twiBJB (2d) :
ppl. w. suffix. It is represented by three ppls. in M.,
the second = SOinjO, which M. translates, with a query, "pierce." This
is impossible; I would suggest to read n for n, and understand the Afel,
152 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
ii, 84. But these names appear to be indifferently masc. and fern. cf i 4. ;
. :
1856, ii, 1. 14. The objection to this interpretation is the entire obscurity
of ip'SN.
njnr: for njnrN, is'ar, cf. l^aclean, Diet, of Vernacular Syriac, I93b; for
the meaning, see p. 94, above.
For the epithet "trp, cf. the epithets x"^^, violentus, etc., of the
magical formulas.
ITT, VT, parallel to M's J"J?T, KJ?T, in the latter as from root Nyt.
of the oracle." We
must go to the Assyrian for the explanation. There
the corresponding form mustalu means one who gives an oracle upon being
phrase in our text KTT3 fWTT31 na may here be used like the Arabic ibn,
without modifying its regimen. Or may the phrase = baru mustalu,
'PNino 'ID: ppl. pass. The root enn came to be used particularly of
poisoning. The 'S't are probably "hairs," Syriac zeppa. Any portion of
a person's body, especially hairs, nails, etc., as detachable, could be used in
magic directed against him. See Thompson, Sent. Magic, Index, v. .y.
14. For the appearance of devils in animal forms, cf. the reply of the
demon to St. Michael in a text of Pradel's (p. 23) : "I enter their houses
"fTTrrt 8*6 in their house"; Myhrman's translation, "shall not dwell," would
require fnnn. It looks as if jm'n is for jmB'n, or an error for J1TVD,
from Kin = TIB.
Nmne': so also 8: 11, but generally in parallel occurrences, e. g. Myhr-
man's text, KnJ't^. The same noun is found in the Mandaic, 'B*l NnJK>
17. ton sno: cf. 5: 31 and see p. 97. D'DSO: cf. Ass. pasasu.
'OSB 13 'Nova pirn rvn'ai snnnnb soa pin JBTB snsiox HDI
sn'i"i>i snan 'i"^ sn'W bs nirp irai rvBP'a sn"3 sn'W nre (2) nrm
pn'rvi'p [j!"B-!y pa'np]'Bm pa'nyais pa'n'im (3) sn'EDm sn'j^pi nap>j
mat? Dni>a pa'asi (4) pa'by yap pa'aa nns 'on panyo Tnoi pn'p'a!> sbi
13 'WvJ pirn n'nni pei ~'n'a i"3 '.PISI 'mvi ^yntr noc nnl's 1
p'D'Ni
K^I rvmaa Kb pni> ptnn'n i> aim mso na (5) n'nn'N <utn pci 'KOSO
nu a'na nana^w SB' na'y PB 'ab sns so'3 (9) s'rna na yt^in' 'an sji>
pnl' y'Bty . . .
xyirvs pa . . . nets' nn!>s pa'O'si n'BB' on^a paus[n]
PD '[Pi] El 'niSI 'VBB> S132 S13 SJ111 . . . K"3 pB'tT (10) P3s! Sypi J'O
aim nnsn na n'nn's '^^[i poi 'SBSB] la 'SJi'j pirn n'nm pel rrn'a
bsi n'npt'ya 'n'B'nni SD'B SBBH snintra s!>i SBi"na si> (11) pn5> prnn'n si>
... 3 pniEDi 'aD'j 'DSC 13 nbys 'SJi'J PBI mso na 'utn snn PB paDT,
[snp]'a sn'i"i> s am
(154)
J. A. MONTGOMERY -ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 155
TRANSLATION
In the name of the Lord of salvations.
Designated is this bowl for the sealing of the house of this Geyonai bar
Mamai, that there flee (2) from him the evil Lilith, in the name of 'YnwH
El has scattered' ;
the Lilith, the male Lilis and the female Liliths, the
Hag (ghost?) and the Ghul, (3) the three of you, the four of you and
the five of you ; [naked] are you sent forth, nor are you clad, with your
hair dishevelled and behind your backs. It is made known to you,
let fly
(4) whose father is named Palhas and whose mother Pelahdad Hear :
and obey and come forth from the house and the dwelling of this Geyonai
b. M. and from Rasnoi his wife (5) bath Marath.
And again, you shall not appear to them in his (sic) house nor in
their dwelling nor in their bedchamber, because it is announced to you,
whose father is named Palhas and whose mother (6) Pelahdad, because
it is announced to you that Rabbi Joshua bar Perahia has sent against you
the ban. 1 adjure you [by the glory (= name)] of Palhas your father
(7) and by the name of Pelahdad your mother. A divorce-writ has come
down to us from heaven and there is found written in it for your advise-
ment and your terrification, in the name of Palsa-Pelisa ('Divorcer-
Divorced'), who renders to thee thy divorce and thy separation, your
divorces (8) and your separations. Thou, Lilith. male Lili and female
Lilith, Hag and Ghul, be in the ban .... [of Rabbi] Joshua b. P.
And thus has spoken to us Rabbi Joshua b. P. :
(9) A divorce writ
has come for you (thee?) from across the sea, and there is found written
in it [against you], whose father is named Palhas and whose mother
Pelahdad, .... they hear from the firmament ( 10) .... Hear and they
and go from the house and from the dwelling of this Geyonai b. M. and
from Rasnoi his wife b. M.
And you shall not appear to them (n) either in dream by
again,
night nor in slumber by day, because you are sealed with the signet of
El Shaddai and with the signet of the house of Joshua b. Perahia and by
the Seven ( ?) which are before him. Thou Lilith, male Lili and female
156 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
Lilith, Hag and Ghul, I adjure you by the Strong One of Abraham, by
the Rock of Isaac, by the Shaddai of Jacob, by Yah ( ?) his name .... by
Yah his memorial .... I adjure (13) you to turn away from this Rasnoi
b. M. and from Geyonai her husband b. M. Your divorce and writ (?)
and letter of separation .... sent through holy Angels .... the Hosts of
fire in the spheres, the Chariots of El-Panim before him standing, (14)
the Beasts worshipping in the fire of his throne and in the water, the
(15) and by Kabkabkiel the great angel, and by 'Akariel the great angel,
I uproot the evil Necklace-spirits. Moreover you evil Liliths, evil Counter-
charms, and the letter of divorce (16). And again, do not return
to them from this day and forever. Amen, Amen, Selah. Sealed upon
him Gabriel (?).
Again (I adjure you), evil Lilith and evil Spirit .... (17) .... or
kill depart from this Rasnoi b. M. And be they preserved for life!
COMMENTARY
A charm for a man and his wife, particularly against the Liliths (a
picture of one of which obscene creatures decorates the bowl), made out
in the form of a divorce-writ. The inscription is very indistinct and towards
the end becomes almost illegible. No. 17 is in large part an abbreviated
and mutilated replica.
'DKO, and below 'NDND. in No. 15 KOND: one of the most frequent
feminine names in these texts; see Noldeke, WZKM, vi, 309, Lidzbarski,
Eph. I, 75 f., 97, n. 3 ; ii, 419. Budge in his edition of Thomas of Marga's
Book of Governors (ii, 648) gives a note contributed by Jensen that Mami
isa name of belit Hani, the mother-goddess.
species, the male and the female, the ghost and the vampire, hence "the
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 157
btf
" itSl rPDB"3 : a prophylactic "word," like the magical quotations
from Scriptures; cf. a similar case at end of No. 42.
and Nrvaon are unique demoniac names, found only here and in
NJTJ;>e>
No. 17. The probable identity of <n with the Arabic Ghul suggests con-
necting 'B> with the Arabic si'lat; Lane, Lexicon, 1365, and at length his
Arabian Nights, c. i, n. 21, and also van Vloten, WZKM, vii, 179, who
quotes an Arabic author to the effect that the Si'lat is the witch of the
feminine Jinns. (The Arabic root sa'ala, "cough," = Syriac hyV.). We
have then to account for the loss of the y. The form would be comparable
to xmiX!?. Another possibility is = Assyrian sulii, "ghost," Muss-Arnolt,
Diet. 1036 (from r6y?), the formation being originally selamtu (cf. elanu
from i"6y). The witch or Ghul is preferable in the context, however in
No. 39 the Lilith appears as the ghost of a dead relative, so that the context
does not determine the etymology.
ably the 'n is exactly the Arabic Ghul, which is thus described by Doughty :
jaws, in the ends one or two great sharp tushes, long neck her arms like ;
158 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
chickens' fledgling wings, the fingers of her hands not divided ; the body
big as a camel but in shape like as the ostrich ; the sex is only feminine.
She has a foot as the ass' hoof and a foot as an ostrich," etc. (Arabia
Deserta, i, 53, quoted by Thompson, Sem. Magic, 60).
e
3. JOwHll : for the sharpening of the vowel, t littai from
flattai, see my notes on WHS, p. 73.
''PIS: often along with synonymous verbs, pmn'K, jm, etc. Cf. the
Babylonian istu biti si (Utukki-series, iii, 158), the long series of impera-
tives in Mafc/w-series, v, 166 ff., etc.; Mk. 9: 25, Acts 16: 18; in Gollancz's
Syriac charms ; in the Greek, e. g. Reitzenstein, Poimandres, 295, 298
4. 'lien :
probably hypocoristic from Rasnu, name of a Zoroastrian
genius, see Justi, p. 259. Cf. the names Tnrcri, Tnrwjri ,
in Glossary.
7. tt& Jvn: ND^ : the separation of the lilith from her victim is
magicians, who thus applied the powers of binding and loosing claimed
by the rabbis to the disgusting unions of demons and mortals. The logic
of the procedure was very simple if only the liliths were as submissive
to divorce as their human sisters. The decree is frequent in these bowl
incantations,, appearedand first in Ellis's bowl, no. I. But I do not know
of any case of the occurrence of this magical Get outside of the bowls.
The magical writ affects the same forms and formalism as that of
1
the divorce court. In the parallel bowl, No. 17, a form of date is given
(1. I KDV fin), which was a requisite in the legal Get. The names of
both parties are exactly given, hence the parents of the liliths are here
QD'J "^tftf: "take thy writ," a sentence consummating the process, and
then the divorced demon must betake herself from her victim's property,
as commanded by the peremptory; "Hear, obey and go forth" (1. 10). But
there is a difference; against spiritual powers divine authority was neces-
sary. And so it is affected that the writ has come down from heaven (1. 7),
that is, it belongs to the category of writs from foreign countries for
which there were special forms; hence the NO' -\yy po NDS NB^, 1.
9.
is also at hand to seal as notary the divine decree, none other than the
famous master-magician Joshua b. Perahia. For a further phase of this
"divorce-writ" see to 1 1 :
7. In 1.
7, both the sing, and pi. are carefully
used, so as to include both the definite lilith and also the whole brood.
1
See D. W. Amram, Jewish Law of Divorce (Philadelphia, 1896), esp. c. xiii;
:
"by the Seven"? i. e.'the seven angels, genii, etc.? The seven
planets are so called simply in Syriac.
12. 01 on-DK T3H3: cf. Is. 49: 24, 3pr 'N; for the Rock of Isaac,
cf. Is. 30: 29, Rock of Israel. The "Shaddai of Jacob" is unique. The
scribe was not mighty in the Scriptures. But cf. Ecclus. 51: 2: "give
thanks to the Shield of Abraham, .... to the Rock of Isaac, .... to the
From 1.
13 to end the text is largely mutilated or illegible ;
this is the
El-Panim" ;
"the beasts worshipping in the fire of his throne and in the
water," with which cf. the glassy sea of Revelation. The following term
*74'
<
1 ("banners," then "cohorts") is a common word in the Targumic
literature for the angelic hosts, according to Shemoth Rabba 15,
= rnsax.
(But the phrase may mean, "who is revealed as.") The language is Hebrew
and the allusions are taken doubtless from apocalyptic literature.
17. "may they be established for life"; cf. the finale of the Mandaic
texts, "Life is victorious." The same expression in 12: 3, and the negative
wish against devils in Wohlstein 2426: 9; but in his no. 2417: 22 the verb
is used of the resurrection. At least the vague idea of immortality may
be contained in the phrases.
No. 9 (CBS 9010)
13 (3) yenm 'art . . . rvca sin mm Krray (2) snaijn &o[w]i won
(4) ptna pni> prnrpon sivii> i>ai> 'B'j pn5> Njana N
snio nvixi K'et^ lean's pnan [nupjn] lino apji nio^n lino
ID H3K PH3 KJvW '30^1 ilHV 't^in H'tf I1X (7) '.DOn'K pH3 KHDIl
l[o ii]an' KP2^i linn
11
s^ani' s^ano (8) pn^y 'n^n'Ki Kane'!" prp5> n'p'bo
..... nja ma
Exterior
n i>y nainn !>KE-II bKa^oi ^wnaa msav D'n^N mn' 'n^y ISB"!' 'is (11)
TRANSLATION
The bowl I deposit and sink down, and the work (2) I operate, and
it is in [the fashion of] Rabbi Joshua (3) bar Perahia. I write for them
divorces, for all the Liliths who appear to them, in this (house of ?) (4)
Babanos bar Kayomta and of Saradust bath Sirin his wife, in dream by
night and in slumber (5) by day; namely a writ of separation and divorce;
in virtue of letter (abstracted) from letter, and letters from letters, (6)
whereby are swallowed up heaven and earth, the mountains are uprooted,
and by them the heights melt away.
(7) Oh, Demons, Arts and Devils and Latbe, perish by them from
the world! Therefore (?) I have mounted up over them (you?) to
the celestial height, and I have brought against you (8) a destroyer to
(161)
162 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
destroy them (you) and to bring you forth from their house and their
dwelling and their threshold and all .... place of the bedchamber of
Babanos b. K. (9) and of Saradust b. S. his wife. And again, do not
appear to them, neither in dream of night nor in sleep of day .... I dismiss
COMMENTARY
A charm for a man and his wife. The inscription is illiterate, and is
whence the third word in the present text can be restored. It is very
obscure and I propose the following explanation, 'a is a synonym for ND13
"bowl," and is the Syriac and Mandaic Kims (puhra) which came to mean
"symposium," but goes back to the root ins, giving the words for the potter
and his art, i. e. originally it was a potter's vessel. For the loss of the
guttural in our present word, cf. Mandaic NTie> for Kimr, etc. WOT
I take in the common Syriac sense of laying a foundation; the bowl was
we have seen, at one of the four corners
placed, as of the house. For XJ'pK',
treated as IP?, in the simil'ar sense "to sink" (the ist Form is used as an
active in Rabbinic). As the phrase appears in our Syriac bowls, which are
justifiable.
(Persian p often = Semitic b}, Justi, pp. 54, 241, the second the Persian
genius-name Anos.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 163
noiviD :
apparently a form of Zarathustra ;
see Justi, p. 379 f ., where
the frequent spelling Zaradust is cited in names. But strange is the
PTE>: cf. the name Sirm, Tabari's Chronicles, ed. de Goeje, i, 4, p. 100,
1-3-
clear; they refer to the magical use of letters and words and the manipu-
lation of their pronunciations, such for instance as we find in the
treatment of nirr and in the Greek magic of the seven vowels. Cf. Pradel,
"
P- 35 1-
9 m the name of these angels and letters."
6. '31 3p3i : this root appears in the Bible where it passes from the
physical "prick, prick out," to the sense "distinguish," that is, in speech,
7. '313^ a category appearing only in the bowls, see above p. 81, and
Glossary.
1
For this discussion see Dalman, Der Gottesname Adonay, 44 ff.
164 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
on the passage from 32: 8 f. (q. ?;.), where is given the tradition of Joshua
b. Perahia's ascent to heaven, by which he obtained mastery over all evil
powers. Our scribe boldly turns the 3d person of the legend into the
first person of himself, an instance of the attempted identification of
the magician with deity or master-magician.
8. xbriD = rvntron, Ex. 12: 23; in the parallel the abstract x^an.
Deity, see above, pp. 58 f, 99, and note the Greek parallels. Sebaoth
appears to replace one of the four archangels; cf. the personification of
S. in .Myhrman's text.
No. 10 (CBS 16014)
ma ntr^ ntoip DIN nonm K?:nn Kin na IHJVJI vi] [p]i>n ponnni (3)
pi>n pcnnci po'nn am PJDD ti p5>aan IDT pin 101 (4) [pv]e> ID
TRANSLATION
This amulet is for the salvation of this Newanduch bath Kaphni, and
Kaphni her husband bar Sarkoi, and Zadoi her son, and her house and
her whole threshold, in the name of Yah, Yahu, Ah, .... (2) Sealed, and
countersealed are this house and this threshold .... in the name of
LLZRyon and Sabiel and Gabriel and Eliel (3) And sealed are
these, Zadoi and Newanduch, with that seal with which the First Adam
sealed Seth his son and he was preserved from Demons (4) and Devils
and Tormentors and Satans. Again sealed and countersealed are these,
the son of Sarkoi and Newanduch his wife b. (5) K. and Zadoi her son,
with that seal with which Noah sealed the ark from the waters of the
Deluge. (6) And may they fly and cease and go forth and remove from
them and from their house and their abode and their bed-chamber, from
this day and forever.
COMMENTARY
A charm for a woman and her family. It is decorated with a figure
1VWJ: for the name see to 5: i ; the same person appears in No. ir.
(165)
166 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
'JB3 :
probably for Kafnai, "the hungry one." The woman's husband
and father had the same name. This is a case of the father's name being
given, against the rule; for other examples, see 12: i, Pognon B, p. 98,
and the name KSKQ, in Lidzbarski 5.
(
H
)nt: the full spelling appears in 1.
5; for the name, ibid., p. 382. A
Zaroi appears in 37: 3.
For Sabiel and Eliel, see Schwab, Vocabulaire, 251, 57. The first
For these apocryphal references to the seal of Adam and Noah, cf.
p. 64, and for the Jewish legends see Jew. Enc., s. v., "Seth," "Noah." It
is in the Babylonian story not the Biblical that the hero shuts himself in.
The text would be legible only for a half, but for the interesting
fact that it is one of four almost duplicate inscriptions. The longest
and clearest of these is the Mandaic bowl, no. 5, published by Lidzbarski.
Another is, remarkably enough, the first inscription of this category ever
1
published, Ellis no. i, in Layard, Nineveh and Babylon, 512 ff see 2. .
;
The latter is given in poor facsimile, and none has taken the trouble to
collate afresh the bowl in the British Museum, a simple task which doubtless
would have allayed the difficulties.
Of this text the bowl from Nippur is practically a duplicate, and, with
the help of Lidzbarski's inscription, I am able to restore almost the entire
text not only of our bowl but also of that in the British Museum.
There is also a fourth duplicate, No. 18. It can be read only by com-
parison with the three presented here, and so I have left it in its original
material from another script and dialect. Cf. the parallel texts in No. 7.
*
As suggested in that section, n. 4, this was the bowl obtained by Layard from
Nippur.
(167)
168 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
rpe> jo xniox
'Divm ijs3 m IIUTJ
to rpeB> 'nma (2)
(4) xnipjn
Tn&n jso nit^a (3) to 1
pni>
13 nna JDI TIIJVJ na
n^ns nJV3 1ST TDHJED'K
X31 xai mm
X31
(5) o^oan
XSpXtJI
wnxpnxn
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 169
'333'b
D ^P." n
1 DPTTI nrpni23i
xim D^B> in &O33 (6)
rp3ro xn oxnbn
moa xm 3JT nD3 KH
['31 nn'3 JDI nro rnaai nrvN3
'J H2 'n na %
'N rut pi 'D
P3H31 (8) 13
aim xnB'133
prvbv i[m]n pmn
xn
XHX3PU1
nnpr3
"13
sr 12
TRANSLATION
Salvation from Heaven for this Newanduch bath Kaphni, that she be
saved (2) by the love of Heaven from the Lilith and the Tormentor. Amen.
Amen. Again, fly and refrain (3) and remove from Newanduch b. K.,
the Lilith and theTormentor and Fever and Barrenness (4) and Abortion ;
in the name of him who controls the Demons and Devils and Liliths,
and in the name of "I-am-that-1-am."
For the binding of (5) Bagdana, their king and ruler, the king of
Demons and [Devils], the [great] ruler of Liliths. I adjure thee, Lilith
Halbas, granddaughter of Lilith Zarni, [dwelling] in the house and dwelling
of Newanduch K. and [plaguing] boys and girls, (7) that thou be
b.
smitten in the courses (?) of thy heart and with the lance of .. ., who .
separated thee [from N. b. K. etc.], [like the Demons] (8) who write
divorces for their wives, and do not return to them. Take thy divorce from
Newanduch b. K. and do not appear to her, neither by night nor by day,
and do not lie [with her]. And do not (9) kill her sons and daughters.
In the name of Memintas (?) keeper of Habgezig (?). Y6, Yad, Yat,
Yat, Yat. By the seal on which is carved and engraved the Ineffable Name,
since the days of the world, the six days of creation.
COMMENTARY
i . Newanduch b. Kaphni : the same as in No. 10 ; here without
mention of a husband. It is also the name of the mother of the client in
Ellis's bowl.
2. rpDt? 'Dm : cf. "the great Lord of love." "Heaven" is used here
and in parallel passages as surrogate for Deity, after ancient Jewish use;
the same use in 18: i and Wohlstein 2422: 3.
J. A. MONTGOMERY -ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 171
3. KmyE> : a new word. I would connect it with the Arabic root s'r
(Heb. ~\yO, "W), with the meaning "be hot, rage," etc. See the various
derivative nouns in
Lane, Arabic-English Lexicon, 1363: sa'r, "burning,
"demoniacal possession, madness, mange"; sa'rat (our very
shooting," su'r,
form!) "cough," etc. Possibly fever, or poison. The Arabic su'r connotes
infection.
5. At the end of this line begins the parallelism with the two other
inscriptions. Our very first word, which appears as one in a series of
divine names, e. g.
El-sur, explained from the parallel which shows that
is
IID'K ^>S was meant the unusual form ^K (= ^>y) was taken to be
; "god," =
and the passage became hopeless. The same process of corruption will be
is the elder form; see on 19: 6, 13, where '3 is both generic and personal.
D3^n = D^Dan = DX"6n, in the three texts; cf. the names in the parallel
texts Nos. 8 and 17: oni?B and Ttn^s, Yir6s and }r6a. Proof of the impos-
sibility of etymologizing on these forms ! The accompanying lilith in the
is identical in all three inscriptions. The two liliths in the Mandaic are
interpreted by Ellis's text; they are the male and female respectively; cf.
I,
18:7.
? = opT) = D'WiBKp : the latter has, as Lidzbarski recognizes, a
from the other two. For &O3J DpVl cf. '3 &H3N, 3: 2.
JV3r)3 Nn :
explained by the second column, where plus N3H33 i. e. the
noticed here that the first and third texts address a special lilith in the
No. 8.
9. n33 :
(= plural) Mandaism; so also below 'Wjf == roj;.
01 rvnpPjD: with the help of the parallels we can make out the
reading. It and Ellis's inscription are almost identical. The Mandaic gives
here a striking instance of perversion. The prepositional phrase r6y (or its
equivalent) was understood as "God" and turned into xnt>X; this took with
it the ppls. TV and IvJ , which were raised to divine dignity to accom-
modate the epithet snbs. The invention appears to have been prized, as
the deity Sir-Geliph is also introduced above in the same inscription. The
eniSD DB> is thus reduced to a travesty ! The well-known Jewish phrase
appears also in Schwab, E."
*
Cf. Noldeke, Mand. Gram. 81.
*
For the true explanation of this term, see Arnold, Journ. of Biblical Lit., 1905,
107 ff.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 173
legend, especially Arabic, developed the wonders of this magic ring." Ac-
cording to the end of our inscriptions this seal engraved with the divine
Name was in existence since the week of creation (= JTE>K12). This is
an addition to the ten things which according to Pirke Aboth, 5 8, were :
created on the eve of the first Sabbath among which were the alphabetic
4
See Jewish Encycl., xi, 438 ff., 448; for the Greek magic, Dieterich, Abraxas,
139, 1. 28, and at length, p. 141 f. ;
for bibliography, Schiirer, GJV, iii, 303.
No. 12 (CBS 9009)
p (4) p-iDjrm po'pm pm p:3 pni> prm pnrj<p!>i (3) prrjvai>i pnruabi
ptnrvon nb33D JDI NrpW JDI xnmi' IDI <JDD ID' ^ait? IDI nn IDI ITB>
(6) p5>r *rt rvi> pp noi3 S3J na K'DB> ID rpnn nasi'D -fry wow pni (5)
(7) s^D^ia nnnB"oi IKB 'JDD 'mnn i^a'a 5>yi 'nnm Knin T3jn
!>
(8) jinnrji SD^V IDT ID pinDDi [P]DVT n'rs PK^DH". IDD
niK3X mni 01^3 oi>iyS pn KDV ID na pc^T nin3 pn'mn IDI pnjuv (12) joi
n nioB" n i^ao HS-IIDB" mn nlD1
JDK IDS
Exterior
(13)
TRANSLATION
Salvation from Heaven for Dadbeh bar \smanduch and
. for Sarkoi
(2) bath Dada his wife, and for their sons and daughters and their house
established and be preserved (4) from Demons and Devils and Plagues
and Satans and Curses and Liliths and Tormentors, which may appear
(5) to them. I adjure thee, the angel which descends from heaven there
being kneaded (something) in the shape of a horn, on which honey is
poured (6) the angel who does the will of his Lord and who walks upon
the (throne-) steps of his Lord se'u, and who is praised in the heavens (7)
se'u, and his praise is in earth semft; they are filled with glory, who endure
and keep pure since the days of eternity, and their feet (8) are not
seen in their dances by the whole world, and they sit and stand in their
(174)
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 175
place, blowing like the blast, lightening like the lightning. (9) These
will frustrate and ban all Familiars and Countercharms and Necklace-spirits
and Curses and Invocations and Knockings and Rites and Words and
Demons (10) and Devils and Plagues and Liliths and Idol-spirits and
Tormentors and everything whatsoever evil, that they shall flee and depart
from Dadbeh b. A. and from Sarkoi (n) b. Dada his wife and from
Honik and Yasmin and Kufithai and Mehduch and Abraham and Pannoi
and Sili the children of Sarkoi and from their house and from (12) their
property and from their dwelling, wherein they dwell, from this day and
forever, in the name of YHWH Sebaoth. Amen, Amen, Selah. "YnwH
keep thee from all evil, keep thy soul."
Exterior
COMMENTARY
A charm for a man and his wife and their seven named children, in
4. 'D3ie>: for the form cf. Noldeke, Mand. Gram., 19, and for the
species, p. 80 f., above.
cf. the intrusion of rubrics into the Psalms. The ancient charm was for
binding the good spirits as well as the evil; the incantation as well as the
exorcism was a Karaha/Mf (see Heitmiiller, "Im Namen Jesu," 2d part). In
the early Babylonian magic images of the favorable gods were made and
used in the rites; a good example is found in Zimmern's Surpu series, no
54 (p. 169 = Thompson, Sent. Magic, p. Iviii). Probably idolatry has its
basis in this magical idea. Reverence gradually obscured the idea that the
gods were thus bound, it survived only in the word-magic. But in the
present case a "horn" (symbol of power?), probably a cone of wax or the
like is kneaded, and honey poured upon it, with which we may compare
1
the antique anointing of the sacred stone or bethel, wherein the suppliant
!
literally "smooths" the face of of deity (Heb. r6n). The rubric is, I think,
unique in Jewish magic. For the magical use of honey, see Thompson in
Index, j. v.
6. nno : for the plural, cf. instance in Jastrow, Diet., 834!); or the
We have here a bit of poetic lore about the angels, describing their
The terms 1OD, IKE?, are probably mysterious utterances to awe the hearer;
cf. omo, onto, 3: 3 (from ye>, "hear," KBtf "lift up in worship"?). For
the description "blowing like the blast," etc. ,
cf. Ps. 104 :
4.
subject here.
8. The choric dances of the angels are a pretty fancy, cf. Job 38: 7.
1
Small conical stones are found in the oriental explorations, doubtless domestic
baitylia; see Vincent, Canaan d'apres I'exploration recente, 177, and Scheil, Memoires
de la Delegation Perse, vii, 103, 112 f. (Fig. 34-37, 340 ff, 374, 381).
a
For an extensive collation of like instances in Graeco-Roman magic see Abt,
Die Apologie des Apuleius, 222 ff., 227. May the term in Apuleius, paaiAevs, the magic-
god whose image is formed for purposes of sorcery, (a term much disputed by the
commentators') = iSn = 1Sa, the word used here?
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 177
9. For the 'D^ and xnaip'tr, see 6: 2 and p. 86. 'pJX is a masculinized
form of xnpjy (see p. 88).
11. p'3in: I cannot identify. The Glossary shows two other men of
the same name.
POD"
1
Nabataean, CIS, ii, nos. 185,208,221. Noldeke (in Euting, Nab. Inschriften,
74) vocalizes the name
and Berger (see to No. 208) compares the
Sullai,
Nabataean name But Lidzbarski (Eph., ii, 16) rejects this deri-
Sullaios.
vation and derives the hypocoristic from tfov, Note that among these
nine souls only one strictly Jewish name appears.
13. The two words: "of the room (recess, bedchamber, etc.), of the
hall (also, cavern)" evidently refers to the place where the bowl was to
be placed. The first word may be in construct state, or the two terms
may be parallel, as the words might mean the same thing. jnTN =
Ass. idranu, and is current in the Aramaic dialects. Jastrow defines
KT|JBDK as especially a "sitting room in the shape of an open hall"; for
some discussion of its etymology, see Payne-Smith, col. 315.
No. 13 (CBS 8694)
Exterior
TRANSLATION
Closed are the mouths of all races, legions (2) and tongues from
Bahmanduch bath Samai. (3) And the angel Rahmiel and the angel
Habbiel and the angel Hanniniel, (4) the;e angels,
pity arid love and
compassionate and embrace Bahmanduch (5) b. S. Before all the sons of
Adam whom he begat by Eve, we will enter in before them; from their
clothing they will clothe her and from their garments they will garb her,
the garment of the grace of God. (7) With her they will on this side
sit,
Exterior
(g) Hark a voice in the mysteries! Hark the voice of ____ , the voice
of a woman, a virgin travailing and not
bearing. Quickly be enamored,
(178)
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 179
(10) be enamored and come Ephra bar Saborduch to the marrow of his
was) a virgin ( ?) travailing and bearing not, so (may she be) fresh
myrtle for crowns. Amen, Amen. (12) And made fast and sure is
salvation from Heaven for Bahmanduch b. >S. (13) A preparation (?) ....
leaven, press it (?) .... Amen, Amen, Selah. Salvation and peace from
COMMENTARY
A charm for a certain woman against the reproach of barrenness, that
her husband may love her and she may have children by him. The couple
is the same that figures in No. i, which is particularly a charm against the
liliths ; these are supposed to have prevented the natural fruit of the human
union, affecting not only the woman but also the man's love and virility.
This text and No. 28 are unique among early Semitic incantations,
for they are love-charms. In this they bear the closest relation to the Greek
erotic incantations, on which I will speak more particularly under No. 28.
But in the present text it is the barren forsaken wife who speaks, not the
passionate lover, as in No. 28 and the Greek charms. The incantation has
a Jewish cast in its address to certain angels, whose names are expressive
of love and in its use of biblical divine names. Apparently the text is
enlargement of the Syriac tegma (ra^a) for the sake of assonance with
'5? (spelt in the usual archaic Syriac fashion). The passage is reminiscent
of Dan. 3 :
4. Do the words refer to classes of mankind, and the taking
used of the cohorts of evil (Payne Smith, s. v.) and in the Peshitto trans-
angels invoked are Ahabiel, Salbabiel, Opiel, names signifying love and
its passion (1907, p. 328, no. 80). ^soan and ^X33n are found in Schwab's
graph, or a Pael of mr. For this protection on right and left, cf. 6: 10.
For rP3 nirp see to 7: 8. ^>s6x, in the Mandaic religion, epithet of the
of the word and its origin see Noldeke, Neusyrische Gram., 386.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 181
At the end of this line which on the edge of the bowl, the scribe
is
has attempted to continue and has written a few characters he then started ;
9. a6p bj? :
i>p is used like the Hebrew ^lp. The piteous plaint of
the sufferer is thus expressed, to move the sympathy of the celestial ones.
In the same way the Babylonian magical texts preface their rites with a
description of the plight of the patient; also the biblical Psalms often
commence in like manner. A similar phrase appears in a bowl of Pognon's,
B 20, but there the reference is to the curses of unfortunate souls which
alight on the living. There may be the reference here to such a ban of a
virgin gone to her death without children. In this case 'on (= biblical on,
Syriac on), would refer to the stilling of her "tongue." (Cf. the magical
use of aiyri in a text of Wessely's xlii, 60 f.). But the repetition in 1. n in-
clines me to the view that the virgin who "travails and does not bear" is
would be from Din = tnn , "hasten," and so = "quickly," cf. Ass. KDH;
the word would then correspond to the frequent ifa i/6r/ ra^i ra^t as at the
end of the Hadrumetum love charm (see to No. 28), and see note to 14: 4.
'mi '3PI3 '3riJ: the verb used for "love" is N2n, where we expect 33H;
cf. Heb. 3iiK. For this triple adjuration, see No. 28.
difficult word 113, which primarily "body," comes to mean the essence,
essential thing. The reference is sexual, and the word has such connotations
(see Jastrow, j. v.~).
unintelligible. For this correlation of '3 ... '3, see some, as yet unnoticed
cases in the Hebrew, e. g. Gen. 18 : 20.* Myrtle as sacred to the goddess of
love (Baudissin, Studien, ii, 198 f.) makes an appropriate simile.
1
See my notes in JBL, 1912, p. 144.
182 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
may be the Rabbinic mans, "hash, salad" (which however does not explain
the D). posn is leaven, which as a ferment would be appropriate to an
^T1
! inn KDDS iin ":^ -o-pjn pe^a ppnoi (6)
1
TRANSLATION
[This bowl] in thy name do I make, YHWH, the great God. May this
bowl be for the sealing of Hormizduch bath Mehduch. I adjure thee .....
(2) evil, in the name of holy Agrabis, in the name of MS MS, in the
avaunt, avaunt! And in the name of Michael and Gabriel ..... (5) in the
name of Sariel, in the name of Seraphiel, Suriel and Sarsamiel, Gadriel,
Peniel, Nahriel. And all Blast-demons (6) and evil Injurers, whose names
are recorded in this bowl and whose names are not recorded in this bowl,
oh, (7) oh, avaunt, sit down there! And ye shall be cast down, sitting
within the glowing light and fiery flame (8), Amen, Amen, Selah.
COMMENTARY
A charm for a certain woman, name of YHWH and the angels,
in the
against some definite (now obscure) demon in particular, and against the
devils in general.
(183)
184 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
and p. 63. DU15X is probably also a mathematical anagram for the divine
name or power; cf. Abraxas, =
D'313S, etc. (see p. 57, and to 7: 9), of
which the present form may be a corruption. The syllable S)D seems to
have suggested the sea of *11D. pirn is for niPP.
KTUi S113 5>3'fi3 : hail and fire are frequently found together in the
Old Testament as manifestations of the divine presence; e. g. Ps. 18: 13 f.
(commenting on Stiibe, 1. 14, Poimandres, 292, n.), to the *<% ifa TO** ^0
of the Greek magic, as applied to demons in the sense of "at once
avaunt." For examples, see the endings of nos. 3, 5, 6 in Wiinsch, Antika
Fluchtafeln, and the editor's note p. 13. Cf. a Christian charm in Pradel's,
6. The sorcerer spares himself the trouble of naming the evil spirits
si>Ti : see to 3 :
3. nnaTs: evidently a confusion between the
7. pDin: probably Etpeel. For the curse at the end cf. 7: 17.
No. 15 (CBS 16087)
rpn'3!> n^> 'inn K'otrn xniox (2) 'onvi xnS'x nniDK 5>a no
13 '33' &m3i>i
i
nn 12 ^a-ai'i wmo (3) n3 nrn nn"in[5>i] NOD 13
otn 's-itsxi 'sosi p^o jo os^ ni>i3 (4) nmni>i n^n nn'3[!n]
ETK1 !H3'n'3 njo (5) BTK DSO >E1B1 P^D K^ DK^ B'J'N NJO i
mo] n3 nn joi SOD 13 fnn jo tinjo psn' nntssi ..... (8) .....
13 Mno JDI ..... (9) nrsin'B'D [13] '33'f-i3 pi '"in i3 ^J"13 [! O1
TRANSLATION
In thy name and in thy word, Lord of all healing, God of love.
(2) Salvation of Heaven for the house of Hormiz bar Mama and for the
dwelling of D6d(a)i bath (3) Martha and for Bar-gelal bar Dodai and for
Bar-sibebi bar Cirazad, even for all her house and dwelling (4).
BHYBDYN
Wenas las las la selik :
watrefe das enas mena.
I scan and rhyme ( ?) against you, Spirits and Goblins (6) and Plagues and
Howlers and Strokes and Circlet-spirits and evil Arts and mighty Works
and Idol-spirits and the evil Lilith (7) ..... And I bind you with bonds
of brass and iron and seal you with the figure of a seal of fire, ..... (8)
..... And I banish you from Hormiz b. M. and Dodai b. [M. and] Bar-
gelal b. D. and Bar-sibebi b. C. (9) ..... and Mehoi bar Dodai, in the
(185)
186 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
COMMENTARY
A charm for several persons, whose relations to each other are not
definite. They may be members of one household a kind of Pension.
The virtue of the charm lies in the use of a doggerel couplet. The figure
in the center of the bowl is a serpent with its tail in its mouth; see p. 54.
HVl: 38: 4, 'tan; hypocoristicon from 111, "friend, uncle," etc.; cf.
the biblical name nn and its variant HIT, also Dada, 12: 2. The present
name is feminine; may it mean the rfwrfai', "love-apple" ? Justi, p. 86, lists
a Dttday.
IWirpB'B: the Persian Cihrazad; see Justi, p. 163. The C'O is an attempt
to represent the Persian hard ch. The name is the same as that of the
4. 'Jl p'i>D jo DK!>: this and the following line contain a magical
incantation expressed in a rhyming doggerel couplet. (In the first occur-
rence of 'SnCNi, the 1 was first omitted, then written above, and finally
the word was rewritten that there might be no infraction of the charm.)
First of all, there is a couplet rhyming at the caesuras and at the end;
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 187
edition of the Babylonian magical Labartu series (ZA, xvi, 188; cf. Jastrow,
Rel., i, 339). It is there called a siptu, "incantation," and runs thus
(following Jastrow's arrangement) :
For Greek parallels see p. 61. The repeated too of the couplet is taken
up by 'JVJDi Tir3. The roots fco and p3 may refer to the scansion of
the couplet.
7. Brass, lead, fire, all potent against demons. Cf. the "chains of lead,"
39: 4 f. The bonds of hell are called catenae igneae in a Latin charm,
9. Mehoi :
hypocoristic, cf. Mehducht, etc.
No. 16 (CBS 2920)
pn^n^a joi 'ipit? ^3 ^^ JDI nmas joi (13) MJQ joi inns JDI xn^aia JDI
n^o JDK (14) JDS niJiyM jjn DV jo ni'ia jwrnn jm jinj'j'p JDI
TRANSLATION
from Heaven for Dadbeh bar Asmanduch (2) and for
Salvation
Sarkoi bath Dada his wife and for Honik and Yasmin (3) and Kufithai
and Mehduch and Pannoi and Abraham and Silai the children of Sarkoi,
(4) and for their house and their property, and that they may have
children and may live long and be established, and that (5) no Injurer
in the world may touch them.
arts ( ?) (6) which suppresses darkness under light, plague under healing,
destruction under construction, injury (7) under ban, anger under repose:
suppressed are all the sons of darkness under the throne of God, in
whose ( ?) name (8) are bound, suppressed Devils ; gripped likewise are
evil Spirits and impious Amulet-spirits and Names and Princes of (9)
(188)
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 189
darkness and the Spirit (breath) of foulness and fatigue and the Tormentors
of night and day and Curses and Necklace-charms and Words and Adjura-
tions (10) and Knockings and Rites, the Plague and the she- Plague and
the voice of Invocation, and the Spell of poverty and Demons and Devils
and Satans (n) and Idol-spirits and Liliths and Arts and mighty Works
and the seven Tormentors of night and day. They are bound, suppressed
and laid, (12) away from Dadbeh, etc. (as in 11. i ff.), (13) and from all
their house and from their property and from all their abode, from this day
forever. Amen, Amen, (14) Selah. "And YHWH said to Satan," etc.
COMMENTARY
A charm for the large family that appeared in No. 12. It contains
5. <M iVDE3: I have translated literally; the original form may have
been : rrb 'Enn npT 'p xnb>o "i 'a "the great name . . . which magicians
invoke."
8. XSlt'm '3^3^ : cf. the Pauline roif KoafioKparopaf roil OT<5roDf TOVTOV, Bpll.
6: 12.
jnni>B> nxn 'a^.ta^Bi 'ac'j pano^Ei pa^ou pai> a'Di I'ao'Ni xnp'ai (9)
sai> sns HD^J n^nia p yanrv sai' ncs jnam rrmapynrvp'by (io)n^n
ipai ICDB sni'^ mn^a paaxi n;;^ jn5>a (11) pa'D-mi a^na nanB" KB' iayo
rpnnm (12) nnos nrnna N^I nrpaa s^ xne^nc na B"B'a^ r6 jio'on xbi
snct^a pni> pp^an sni>aae !>a t^toa^i i^Da (13) tj^oia ua P'Jinbi nnrbi bi
TRANSLATION
This day above any day, years and generations of (2) the world, I
Komes bath Mahlaphta have divorced (3) separated, dismissed thee, thou
Lilith, Lilith of the Desert, (4) Hag and Ghul. The three of you, the four
of you, the five of you, (5) naked are ye sent forth, nor are ye clad, with
your hair dishevelled behind your backs. (6) It is announced to you, whose
mother is Palhan and whose father (Pe)lahdad, ye Liliths Hear and go :
(190)
J. A. MONTGOMERY -ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 191
Pelahdad, ye Liliths : And now flee and go forth and do not trouble Komes
b. M. in her house and her dwelling.
I bind (12) and I seal with the seal of El Shaddai and with the seal
of Joshua b. Perahia the healer, healing and release from Heaven for Aba
and Yazdid and Honik sons of Komes. Thwarted and frustrated are all
Injurers, whom we have removed by the ban upon them. Amen, Amen,
Selah.
COMMENTARY
A charm effected by a woman for herself and her children, who appear
in two different groups, in the name of Joshua b. Perahia. It is an abbrevi-
ated and often incorrect replica of No. 8.
2. C^'DIS , 1.
7 C^03: the name obscure; cf. Ko/joaa/nti > Justi, p. 165.
Knsbno: for this name, frequent in these bowls, and its equivalents,
see Noldeke, Encyc. Bib., s. v. "Names," 62.
3. For the singular and plural number, see to 8: 2. The word lilith
is spelt badly. For the x~m 'h cf 29 7, and see p. 78 the parallel has
. :
;
9. 3'D: f. pi. impr. of 3D:; but 1JW in 1. 6. The following |nn|>E> ntn
is a perversion.
10. = \rb-
K3^>
:
frequent Talmudic name, Seder ha-Doroth, ii, 3-18.
Tir: probably error for IIT, see 7: 3.
ps'pm n<{> rvxn mtr (2) 5>ai TPX 12 maxn xrvni>[i xa>sji>] xrnpx
[pirn] pns i>3 pm yv x!>i po'pm (3) pm nnrvx vnavx 12 [pja rp5>]
'vti ']T>trr prr2i>s xafo xpija iiD'x ^x (4) rvnx it5x n'n
sn i
i']ii' ijnn nnia m xn'^i' oa^na ^^y (5) myaB'N
.;.[npnn]i 'Pin X!OKI spjni santsi N^noni ...K'anni (6) XT naxa naipo^x i>
. ..pon xnijnrani ^n!"^ DBIO:: pno'm ^3^1; (7) n^ntrs smv 'o'D nvo
ND'3 ps5> rrnro xn xn^^ i'vi 5>i nans (8) 5>jn 'in i>yi HIK* i>v D^tr in"! ^t" ^]
1
!>IPB> pn^y pmn x^ (9) aim pn't?^ xta'j H^ p[in3 xsa p3]n' nncsni
ptnn^n 5>i
[Trjx 13 XIBXT jnn xn[u jo ip^l'in inipi psnoio 5"DPi pa'B'J
n'XT ['Ji pjai'i pn5> palnpvi xbi jiyrn x^i n^nn^x 'nj2vx5> nb x^ my rrb (10)
. . . 't3it3 in rnaax' jonno . DiB'a noon nob'na x!>i (11) n'!"i>n no^m x^5 }in^>
tox n^B'xna w nB"e> (12) tw^y 'or to trusts ntr n!>y i^3i TVT xnpry]a
n'lb^n n^D jox
COMMENTARY
This inscription is yet another duplicate to the three collated under
No. n. It is badly written and mutilated, and would be in large part
unintelligible without the other texts. It presents little that is new and a
looks like "'X, i. e. Aye? But the strokes may be for abbreviation.
5 . Dl^m :
again this name differs ; but the tradition of the granddam's
name is accurate.
XT mxa: i. e. msxi.
6. rraxt: ppl. of xm.
(193)
194 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
XfPV <D'n nyo: the probable reading. NJVV is biblical. The dirty habits
of these foul demons appear in the Babylonian magic ; they are compared
to pariah dogs and are exorcised by the spirit of foul streets, see Utukki
snKinD' K 'Joni i
(9) nan
pn'^ DIB^I Ntsm KJH no S
in5>
n'tanm Kintr pin D3i (14) SID^K 'a"3 ODDI MH n^ 5>a 5>y nnn
p5>m pn'DB^a TST K^ <niT ninn toi pn^v P^SJ i> nmo'K po trjiNi
pi[m] nnaea H'KT (15) Kwa Kn^^i ^nJii KTB^ ton nonij
PTDK 3in wee's pon'nai nyixa pio^K3 KnsiriD 13 K3m |
pirn nnas
i>y n'Ki xianai xmoini Bnm Kim KTtf 'TDK 3in
K3D1 TDK 31 n n'i>13'Ka (17) QTini i>13'K3 KHE^no 13 '3H1 npn'DI
DJ'B3
n'3 npt'V3 TDK am ut 13 pnK3 po'nni 't3J ;nb3 TDK am KT:a D'nm
K3i Kta^B'3 po'nm KTIE' Kn^Ka PTDK am xnvn Kai Ki"303 pn'nm jwn
citf3 KnD^no ia 'Kam npn'm n'B'itro pirn nnaa po 13 ^nioipi (18)
n'n3iD . . . nepi3 0^31 DIBI poom i'snts SEP KDIP KpJitr DIJ^PIN Dirncs
n't?Ki5>D ii"V prr iisi'Ka M^K o^yi (19) KJ'!>J> sa.K 01^31 13in'D '3i)'i)
nsno Koiyi n'^Kii n.3 po onnrvj wna^no 13 'Kam npn'oi n'Bnpo pirn
Kam npn'oi (20) n'tntfoi Kn'a pin^i pn'j K^ K3^ ..... DID UTD n'^n
po Koo'3 K^I n'!?'!)3 K^> n'a ptmvj K^I n'i> inip 11
: K!>I pi>jpj K!> KneS'no 13
TRANSLATION
In thy name, O Lord of salvations, the great Saviour (2) of love.
Charmed and sealed and countersealed is the whole (3) person and
the bedchamber of this Mesarsia, surnamed (4) Goldsmith, bar Mahlaphta,
with the seven spells which may not be loosed, and with the eight seals (5)
which may not be broken.
In thy name, lord Ibbol, the great king of the Bagdani; and in thy
name, our lady Ibboleth, (6) great queen the
(she- of the goddesses
demons?), and in the name of Talasbogi the great lord of the Bagdani;
and in the name of Sahnudmuk (7) and in the name of Ibbol son of Palag;
;
and in the name of Angaros and in the name of the Lord, the Word and
;
Leader and Armasa (Hermes) and in the name of Azpa and 'Alim; (8)
;
and in the name of Nakderos the lord of and in the name of Seraphiel, . . .
;
lord of judgment and of (divine) beck; and in the name of the 60 male
gods (9) and the 80 female goddesses; and in the name of Ardisaba (or
Ardi) the most ancient of his colleagues; and in the name of Anad the
great lord (10) cast above (him) iron and bronze, and fastened
to him fetters (?) of lead and the 70 exalted priests of Bagdana; and in
the name of Bagdana son of Habal (destruction), (n) ... and in the ;
Iras son of Hanas and in the name of Abrakis (Abraxas) and in the name
; ;
"Lift up" ( ?), ... to the great Ruler before him; and in the name of . . .
;
and in the name of lord Ibbol (13) the great angel of the Blast-demons,
and in the name of the great God and the great Lord of the Bagdani in ;
the name of Arion son of Zand Ye are charmed and armed and equipped.
:
is sure and its seals established against them, from whose charm none ever
In the name of these charms are bound there Demon and Danhis and
the evil Lilith (15) which are body of this Mesarsia, surnamed
in the
Again, (ye are) charmed with a charm and sealed a second time away
from the body of this Mesarsia, (16) etc., Amen.
Again, charmed are the Demon and Devil and Danhis and Amulet-spirit
and Idol-spirit, which are upon the body of this Mesarsia, etc., by Ibbol,
Again, charmed by the great gods and sealed by Arion son of Zand.
Again, charmed by the seal of the family of Hanun, and sealed by the
great ... of Zeiiza (Zeus).
Again, charmed by the true God, and sealed by the great Ruler (18)
who is before him, away from the body of this Mesarsia, etc.
be sealed from the top ( ?) of his head to the toes of his feet they
shall not be, nor this house of Mesarsia, (20) etc., shall they enter nor
approach, nor appear therein, neither by night nor by day, from this day
and forever
COMMENTARY
A charm made out for a certain man whose body is infested with evil
spirits ;
with great elaboration of incantations they are exorcised from him
and his house. The inscription is thoroughly pagan, and is interesting
because of its invocation, for over half its length, of an extensive list of
deities. Cf. a similar long list in Wiinsch, Ant. Pluchtafeln, no. 4. Unfor-
tunately by reason of the coarseness of the script and its general illegibility,
most of these names are obscure. Some of them are definitely Greek,
Zeus, Protogonos, Okeanos, and perhaps the Aeons, male and female, may
be made out; several others are of Greek formation. Others again are of
Persian origin, and some are purely charm-words, "mystical" names. Some
and Stiibe (11. 56, 64) : the demon depart, etc., from the 248 rrnoip
of such a one (the word is not recognized by either editor). The same word
occurs in the interesting magical passage in Ese., 13 : 18.
"Seven spells .... eight seals" : for this cumulative expression, cf. Mica
5 :
4 ;
see 5 : 2.
might also be read, and I am inclined to make the word = Syriac ubbdld,
"generation," etc., and so Aluv. For a discussion of Aeon as supreme deity,
god of time, etc., see Reitzenstein, Poimandres, 269 ff. The Aeons appears
in the magical texts, e. g. Dieterich, Abraxas, 140, 1.
51 ; 192, 1. 21 ; 203, 1. 18.
The syzygies of Aeons were male and female cf. the names in Origen's
list at the beginning of his work Adv. haer., and JVTU'K would be a forma-
tion to express the female Aeon. Derivation from Apollo also suggests
6. "0133 :
Comparing what precedes, the word means some class of
deities or demons. In 1.
13 WU3 is a divine name, = the demon in n :
5
(q. v.). It is then a word like NH^N, etc., which can be used individually or
generically. It evidently contains the Indo-European element baga, "god."
It is difficult to decide whether Bagdana is a propitious or maleficent demon
(as in No. n) ;
in the latter case he is charmed to work the good of the
sorcerer's client, as in the Greek incantations, e. g. Hekate. In W. T. Ellis's
Bagdana," or "the lord god"? The spelling gives the vocalization of the
7. DVUJK: the ending Dl- in this and other names recalls Greek
formations. May this word = oy
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 199
tOJlD: if the reading is correct, the Rabbinic ^Ti , Afel, may give the
interpretation, "leader," which would be a fitting epithet of Armasa-
Hermes, "the shepherd" par excellence. Cf. the idea in the late Hellenistic
10. In this and the following line most of the words can be read, but
in consequence of the failure of the context the text defies interpretation.
The three metals be referred to as having magical properties, and this
may
may give the clue to X13KT KJV^D (rrrp^D written first erroneously).
Comparing the Mandaic text in 39: 5, sotosn wiK^BO (KTDy), the equa-
tion suggests that our NJvb'D = "chains"; possibly SWlb'D "basket," and
here used of a metal cage.
'31 pnx : the plural is problematic, as there is but one client to this
Vogue Florilegium, 1.
251.
Ephemeris, i, 104, n. 2.
Ntiyt :
Zeus, = Syriac W, in Jacob of Sarug (Martin, ZDMG, xxix,
no, 1.
50), otherwise bvt and DlT.
}13n rra: the family or school of some magician like that of Joshua
b. Perahia, see p. 46.
19.
s
aW>: cf. ii :
7. rTOtrto: an astrological reference?
frtU*1 namta ... J'D : the same phrase in Pognon B, except that the
TRANSLATION
Tardi bath Oni (2) Hormisdar Tardi. In the name of AAAAAA,
exorcised and sealed (3) are the Demon and the Devil and the Satan and
the Curse-spirit and the evil Liliths (4) which appear by night and appear
by day, and appear (to) Tardi bath [Oni, etc.]. (5) In the name of
Gabriel, Michael, and Rophiel. Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Hallelia, Selah.
According to AAAAAA.
COMMENTARY
A charm against ghosts. The interest of this bowl lies in the figure
decorating the center. It represents a demon with arms and legs manacled.
On either side of the figures is an enclosed space, that on the figure's right
hand bearing the inscription NT.DK, that on its left, N1EH, i. e. prohibition
and permission. In the lower part of the body on the former side is in-
scribed the names of the sorcerer's client. The pictures thus graphically
presents the idea that the demon has no power over the lady in question.
The picture is of better quality than the inscription, which is very illiterate.
(201)
UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
4. Ktnrpo has Mandaic fem. pi. ending. In S'^xa the first X has a
point over it to mark error? cf. the Massoretic Nikkudim.
rrty>n:
for similar perversions see 24: 4, 31 :
8, 32: 12; cf. a^^ov in the
i>
tmpn in
TRANSLATION OF No. 22
Sealed and countersealed are the house and threshold of Dodi bath
Ahath from Plagues, from all evil Spirits, (2} and from the
all evil
Tormentors, and from the Liliths, and from all Injurers, that ye approach
not to her, to the house and threshold of (3) Dodi b. A., which is sealed
with three signets and countersealed with seven seals from every kind of
(203)
204 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
Lilith and from all (4) Injurers, that ye approach not to her, to the house
and threshold of Dodi [b. A.], and from all evil Spirits and from all evil
Injurers, (5) from this day and forever. Amen, Amen, Selah.
COMMENTARY
Three identical bowls, out of the four which were deposited at the
corners of the charmed house; see 8. There are slight variations in the
inscriptions; in No. 22 the writer found more room and made a longer
inscription. All three are most roughly and illegibly written ;
the characters
1, t, ', 1
are indistinguishable, and B has a peculiar form. The word
transliterated p'"l, 22 :
5, is written in a clumsy Syriac script.
ftvpoaeyyiaai, K. T.
X; cf. also a Syriac charm of Gollancz's, p. 93.
No. 24 (CBS 2926)
WVBK IG K'str 'cma 'onvn (2) Kns^na na njni> n> <nn *PE> jo
na '??!> ni> 'nn K<OK 12 xnios rtbxo jsx ;-:K ....'. (3) KJI j
JOK IOK 'E"3 'JXDDi nsTQ Jtnm 'E'WK' 'B^n nj'o S>D3nn (4) ...
'"2B> 'onn: ^on^m nsiric . nn E'ajiti' (5) union 'ibbn nl?j<D JOK
n'nJK -na K'HJ ..... nbxo JON JDK JON (6) ..... m yap? rna ^
TRANSLATION
Salvation from Heaven be for Hindu bath Mahlaphta, (2) that she
be saved by the love of Heaven from Fever ( ?) and from Sweating, from
(?) (3) ..... Amen, Selah.
Salvation from Heaven be for Kaki bath Mahlaphta (4) that there
cease from her disturbing Dreams and the evil Spirit and evil Satans.
Salvation (5) for Zarinkas bath Mahlaphta, that she be saved by the
love of Heaven, to wit Zarinkas, that she bring to the birth her child .....
COMMENTARY
A charm for three daughters of a certain woman, made out in their
names severally and for specific maladies. The misspellings are numerous.
general name for fever with the Jews, KnE?K (Preuss, Bib.-talm. Med.,, 184),
and n. b. the disease asu in Assyrian, Kiichler, Beitrage, 131, 197. For the
next word the root KTS suggests a sweating disease. NMX may be another
kind of fever. In general see above, p. 93 f.
(205)
UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
pjvoi (2) panp'i paa pn!> vnn jin!> prvon paa 'Q I-PDPH 'sma n[m n't?
o-p ..... B> nnx Ditra nno'j ^KI imno^ ^ amp ID jinan^x
n [pn]i>an pnnn i>.
(3) ..... in namn^ Qin^ nbts> o^ssn ^a ^
(4) DIEO cit? nnan ^y mrrnns ina pn pi ..... jn !>3i 'siaa D't?
IDK!' PDDDH n'3S^D pj> n^N DEYIB> DJat? o;aba DTID (5)
IDN JDK o5> i'^ji'i pn KOV ID 'DND 12 ^nu pnni> (7) rprpaa ^J'K
TRANSLATION
Salvation from Heaven for Guroi bar Tati and for Ahath bath Doda
his wife, that there vanish from them in their dw[elling the Demons and
Devjils by the mercy of Heaven. Whoever here has dead, who shall become
alive to them approach (2} and are found to be (actually)
here, and shall
dead from these you are kept and these are kept (from you). In the
name: Thou- ..... send (to) them, Hadarbadu bar ..... (3) .. the
contentions of them all. Behold, ..... Blessed art thou, YHWH on account
of the name of ..... (4) Yophiel thy name, Yehiel they call thee, Sasangiel,
YHWH, and so ..... names ..... [Arjmasa Metatron Yah, in the name
of Tigin, Trigis, Balbis, Sabgas, Sadrapas.These are the angels who bring
salvation to all the children of men. They (6) will come and go forth
with the salvation of this house and property and dwelling of his, and of
his sons and daughters and all the people in his house (7) of this Guroi
b. T. from this day even for the sphere of eternity. Amen, Amen, Selah,
Halleluia.
COMMENTARY
The inscription is of interest because it is directed against the appari-
(207)
208 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
navir6 Dir6 r6t!>: the idea apparently is that a message be sent to the
dead to cause them to cease their contentions (tl.TOn) with the living,
then one of these departed spirits is named. The name is not recognizable
as a proper name, and evidently, as in Wohlstein's bowl, referred to above,
it is a fancy name. (There we have such names as Yodid, Muth, Dabti, Ith.)
4. iwav : One of the six angels in Targ. Jer. to Dt. 34: 6, along
with Metatron, and, in Schwab, Vocab., 145, a companion of M. and prince
of the Law. 'SV is a Talmudic surrogate for nirv, see Blau, Zauberwesen,
^KTT> or bwrP: cf. btf\n\ Schwab, p. 141. The following name is un-
known. These angels are invoked as phases or names of Deity; cf. p. 58.
5 . These magical words are mystical names of the angels ; see p. 97.
6. JUT = pns'.
mosra nxi (2) IJ?D' "" 'a i>jn 'a i>y ins "" irni'K "" ^NIB" J?OE>
urv ""
-a "" nyj' joon ia (3) "" iw toon ^K "" noK'i ntro na'"" '2 IIDB' "" !>
nB"3 Knn (4) 'n;s ni^nsi HTDN am &?sa i>vio IIK nr 5>n D'i'tj'Ti'a Tman
tnn..n na Tmnjavw snm '2o ^a n'an'ana!> pn$> itnn^n x> sna'pn Kn^'^i
K'TV ^aa K^I nnyn nnyty ^aa K^I iavi trm 5>aa s6i n^^a K^I ao'a K^ (5)
'an' . . . KI 'aaivn ISDI 'aiita'ai 'at3'j 'bipen IIH'CIP ID (6) 'yt pnS K'TJ;
N'Ta 'an oao'x a'an (7) pmn !> aim pn'iW'i> ptD'J P't? panan soa
. K3t3'B'B (8)
\ / 1^ t'3'D rrna'SNi
.
nK"s xjra.x (
nE"x K^
TRANSLATION
YYYY rebuke (3) thee, Satan, rebuke thee, YYYY who chose Jerusalem.
Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?"
Again, bound and held art thou, (4) evil Spirit, and mighty Lilith,
that thou appear not to Berik-Yahbeh bar Mame and this Ispandarmed bath
COMMENTARY
This charm, against the evil Lilith, is introduced by three quotations
from the Scriptures. The first is the opening sentence of the Shema, which
still remains the contents of the Mezuzoth, or house phylacteries of the
(209)
210 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
3. 3irt: cf. 2: i.
suppose that the name was thus ordinarily spelt or pronounced, but the
scribe has taken itupon himself to give this interpretation ( WE} of his
client's name. Here then is a clear survival of the ancient magical significa-
tion and use of the personal name (cf. Heitmiiller, "Im Namen Jesu," 159
ff.), as also of the pronunciation of the name itself. It may be retorted
that would hardly be used to represent e, and that the original pro-
rv
xxiv, 152). The latter thesis is right, but I think that the tradition repre-
sented here connects with the Hellenistic magic, in which, among various
have not found a case of la/3?. Further, in the Talmud (Sank. 56a) nov
appears as a surrogate for the Name, which Dietrich, ZATW, iv, 27,
would vocalize as Yose. Blau (Zauberwesen, 131) objects to e, but adduces
from the Mishna, Sukk. 453, the surrogate which he identifies with the W
Greek magical term ^v (citing Paris Pap. 11. 1896, 2746). This would
be further proof for i in the current magical pronunciation. As for rv-
= -e, we have not only the masc. pron. suffix for a parallel but also the
25 :
5, and also the proper name H'31T 31 : 2.
1
Also on an Abraxas gem, see Diet, de I'archevlogie chretienne, i, 141.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 211
upon it was published in the Museum Journal of the University, 1910 no. 2,
which called forth some private criticisms from scholars (along with
assents), but no better explanation has been offered. (Is there a
my paper "Some Early Amulets from Palestine," JAOS, 1911, 272, line
16, rrarr is apparently to be read for the divine Name, a proof of western
TOVUBTK: cf. Glossary B for other forms. The name occurs in Ellis
i, where it was first recognized by Levy, ZDMG, ix, 470, 486, its correct
Personennamen, 112.
8. SJtD'E'S: cf. 2: 5.
No. 27 (CBS 16041)
ITS twisn DTDDNT pr6 nna nno 'san^vaai 'Ba 'KJDS pna (6) n^wa
am }iai> X^D'^S Kin '31 11
jn'sj SHB'P u nnjnr'K n3 "INT'I' ws 'nn (7)
.pab
Kan NSr&o pai> KJS^'K sjsa na IIITD KJK am nn'a n'a (8) prvon DVTO
ia -\irr SJK HHU (9) pjron ay-pa am wjn inn^T
Ti* l>i IID porn to jn'n-i xnoinKi smnj Nno^ pa'to wn
nain JB!>I wnKt^'a 'nni sj^tx 'VT tj'aa'B^n ^B'D miny toi (10) ono
Kn^Wa 'ina n^a (11) pna rvws n^tw in^nt'K ia ixnn 1
KJK
. . . HBIB HBID m'D m^D pa'p la nnsap^: nnKinD'sa nan nanaa
COMMENTARY
After the introductory appeal, "In thy name, O Lord of salvations,"
etc., the inscription for lines 2b-n is practically identical with No. 2. This
portion does not need translation and commentary. The remaining lines,
13-24, are so mutilated or obscure, that I can make out but few connected
There are a few slight differences between the parallel texts, this one
being probably more correct. The most considerable variation in text is
in 1.
9, where the sorcerer says that he laid the ban upon Hermon; cf. my
note to 2: 6. The same Yezidad bar Izdanduch and his wife Merduch
bath Banai, appear in No. 7. There they are the subjects of the charm,
here Yezidad operates magic in his own name. Cf. the mutual character
of the charm in No. 2. In 1. 8 the wife also takes up the exorcism.
(212)
No. 28 (CBS 2972)
TRANSLATION
In thy name, O Lord of heaven and earth. Appointed is this bowl to
the account of Anur . . . bar Parkoi, that he be inflamed and kindled and
burn (2) after Ahath bath Nebazak. Amen.
Everlasting presses which have only been pressed upon (?) ..... a
man in his heart. (3) Take
hrk, and hot herbs ( ?) which they call sunwort
( ?), mtlln and peppers ..... them and the rites of love which thou (?)
hast sprinkled upon ..... (4) She shall sprinkle them upon this Anur . . .
COMMENTARY
A love-charm such is the import of this sadly mutilated but inter-
esting bowl. It belongs to the same class of magic as No. 13, but is more
romantic, for there we find a charm for a childless, neglected wife, here
one for a passionate woman to bring her lover to her side. For the use
of a bowl for such a defixio see above p. 44. The first copyist was able to
(213)
214 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
read more than I can now, as, since it was in his hands, the bowl has been
cracked and then repaired. The lacunae in the text are tantalizing.
So far as the text is legible, the charm which names the two parties
But it is from the classical and Hellenistic field that we have most
knowledge of this amatory magic, and the connections of the present text
are found in that direction. Of course Theocritus's second Idyll comes
to mind, in which the love-lorn maiden casts the various philtres into the
fire with adjurations of Hecate. For this classical field I may refer to the
herbs; also see section 8 (p. 233) of Abt, Die Apologie des Apuleius.
In the magical papyri numerous erotic incantations are preserved, e. g.
1
I may add now F. Boll, "Griechischer Liebeszauber aus Aegypten auf zwei
Bleitafeln," in Sitzungsberichte of the Heidelberg Academy, phil.-hist. Class, 1910,
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 215
correspondence in the trinity of terms for the passion adjured in the lover.
With our invocation that the man "be enflamed and kindled and burn
after" the girl, compare the longing of the Greek maiden Domitiana that
her lover come cpuvra fi<uv/>iievov Paaavi^6/ievov ! or epovra fiaiv&fievav f}aaavi{6/ievov ;
or
ip. fiaa. aypwvovvTa repetitions like those in our texts. With this probably
technical formula compare the second of the charms cited above by Wes-
Sely :
May X do naught until e%&ai>oa irp6<; fie rbv Stlva n-%r/po<t>opovaa ayavaaa. arepyovaa
Jewish magic appears to have made its solemn formulas eligible for the
desires of passion. Our text, it is to be noticed, is not at all Jewish in
cummin, verdegris, myrrh, some blood of an animal whose throat has been
cut, and a piece of a broom hailing from a cemetery. On a dark night she
is to go into the country with a lighted brazier and throw these different
articles one after another into the fire speaking these words O coriander, :
unter irgend welchem Gebrauch ihres Namens" (p. 107, and at length, pp.
2. Kbj? '^33: I translate the words without any certain sense. For
the noun '3 see to 7: i. If sobx might be read, the reference could be to
a moulded ( &5>33, "press") figure representing the lover. Below in 1.
4
the space before the man's name may have contained "image of," or the
like. The latter part of the line is most obscure. The "heart" (also 1. 5)
appears as the seat of sexual affection. This is a Greek usage, not Semitic
(with the possible exception of the Hebrew phrase 37 bj? 131, used five
times with a woman as the object). See Andry, Le coeur, 5, for the
Greek idea of the heart as the amatory organ, p. 15 ff., for the late Semitic
1
Cf. the phrase quoted in Lane's Dictionary, 782: "she has overturned my heart
and torn my midriff."
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 217
(Wellhausen Skizzen, HI, 41, Noldeke, ZDMG, xli, 710, the identification
denied by W. R. Smith, Rel. Sent., 57). The Edessene Pty was originally
the morning-star, Lagrange, tudes,' 135 ;
cf. the Aramaic names KTjnnc>y
and TymnET; (Lidzbarski, Handbuch, 347 f.).
*
So also to be explained neVi in Schwab, Vocab., 403.
No. 29 (CBS 16055)
ie>sa na K"jsnob (5) D<nm irpi . a ^rxp psw ityo IB>S (4) m'n
ID nnu ID rua ID nj^o (6) jn'xi fenn na B":noi' mxav mnn n'ot^a nyop
nnpjyi ni^ai (7) twitt^a Nn^^i pa^a pTtfi pe^a pyae n^ia r
tj"a ayro (8)[pa^y] Njyatj'D N^B'J 121 'DIDI Kian sn:ai sni'aaK
sjT'ji Kjo'poi Kjyatroi woie pn'&ts' sjia[n (10) K^m p].mots' so-on
n'ns nt^s n^nx (11) r. ra rp rp ra yo w VPT ID mo^a pa^ji
D'pne'i' 'Pntr <a tpno n'onm xmoK ba no Nni>K Kin IDB nxivo xai
Kai sni'K Kin nnaiyS'i mni:n' i
ni>i mnsnni'i mnu (12) .....
TRANSLATION
[This bowl is appointed in the name of?] (2) YHWH Sebaoth for the
salvation [and sealing? of Metanis] (3) bath Resan (4) and
sealed (5) for Metanis b. R., an amulet in the name of YHWH Sebaoth
for Metanis b. R. And bound (6) from her, from her children, from her
house, from all her dwelling, are the evil Plagues and evil Demons and the
evil and the decent and the Necklace-spirits and
Lilith Menstruation . . .
and Tormentors and the Hags of the wild and Impurities and Epilepsy ( ?).
We adjure you (8) whatsoever evil thing lodges in the house and
dwelling of Haliphai bar Sissin and Darsi the foreigner and Astroba
. . .
(9) Leprosy, Plague, Stroke, the kindly and Lili, and the . . .
Demons, ghostly Shades, and all Goblins and evil Injurers whose names
I have mentioned and whose names [I have not] (10) mentioned: I exorcise
and adjure and make fast and bind and make fast (sic) upon you, in the
name of MW, of KB, SS, MS, BS, KS, KS, BS, (n) I-am-that-I-am,
the great God, Mesoah his name. He is God, the Lord of all Salvation,
whose throne is established between the ethers and his eternity (world?)
(218)
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 219
is established for (12) in YHWH and for his praise and the faith
in him and his service. He is the great, the mighty God.
COMMENTARY
A charm made out for two different parties, (i) a woman Metanis
and her household, and (2) for several men and their house and quarters.
These may be lodgers in the woman's house. One of the men is a
6. riTEOi '3 <b: see above, p. 76. '3 may be euphemistic and then have
developed into a distinct species. Cf. the epithet SOKO in 1.
9.
7. SDB'3: Syriac kepsa. trrn xnn: cf. 17: 3. 'D1B: Syriac KOIND.
see Griinbaum ZDMG, xxxi, 332 for some discussion of the word. Epilepsy
was a most common disease in antiquity; n. b. the miracles in the New
Testament, and for the Hellenic world cf. Tambornino, De antiquorum
in The Jews, London and New York, 1911, denies this, but admits the
nervous pathology of the race (chap. xv). Cf. 16: 8 for another disease
cited in Bekor. 44.
303; on the etymology of Sisines see Noldeke, Pers. Studien, 404, no. i.
220 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
Cf. the Jewish names KB*E> and WtW, Seder ha-Doroth, 348 f. Also
ii, in
9. yJO'K: the demon offspring of Adam are called DIN "02 'yJ3 in the
DiDin : for this formation, see Levias, Grammar of the Aramaic Idiom
... in the Bab. Talmud, 975. For similar eruptive diseases named in
s6'B '33: epithet of the goblins; Rabb. t&B , Syr. tella, "shadow."
Cf. the <^Q, Targ. Cant. 3 :
8, etc.
10. For the dominance of sibilants in these magical words cf. p. 60.
At the begining and end of the series are characters enclosed in square
lines.
11. '3: for pa, as also in the Talmud. There follows a lapse into
TRANSLATION
Bound and sealed are the house and the life of this Ispiza bar Arha,
and Yandundisnat bar (2) Ispandarmed, and bath Simkoi, from the . . .
Sun and Heat, from the Devil, the Satan, the male Demon (3) the female
Lilith, evil Spirits, the impious Amulet-spirit, the lilith-Spirit male or
female; the Eye of man (or) (4) woman; the Eye of contumely; the Eye
which looks right into the heart; the mystery which belongs to the evil
Potency, that impious lord; from the evil hateful Potency; from disturb-
ing Vision; from evil Spirits; from that impious Lord, in the name of
COMMENTARY
A charm for two men and a woman from certain specified diseases
upright strokes, and the use of one form for internal and finial 3
except
in the word JO, where a finial is used.
: cf. the Syriac raB'N (Aspaz) for the Hebrew TJSB'K in Dan.
i: 3. (UQDS occurs in Myhrman, 1. i, to which I cite the Babylonian
(221)
222 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
XD'31 BDNE>: the first word is the Mandaic spelling for "the Sun,"
which also in the Mandaic religion is regarded as an evil genius. SD'a =
Ktrp, see Noldeke, Mand. Gram., 42. Cf. Ps. 121: 6, 91: 6, and see
Griinbaum's discussion of the 'Tic 3t2p, the demon of the midday sun,
ftwy : the last two letters are dittography. There follows a list of
various kinds of "evil eye," for which see p. 86.
4. twvnDtcn wj>: so the most likely reading; cf. Lidz. 4, end, WJ?
KJK-IDin (?).
"The eye that sees (or of those that see) within the heart" is a
reference to the uncanny effect of the evil eye.
fra read E3 <n as farther on, and correct Kni3t to Nnmw with 1.
5. There
is evidently a repetition of phrases. The C"3 ^n (like the e3 VV) is the
At the end of 1.
5 comes a long series of characters which do not
appear to form words.
1
According to Karmsedin's Lexicon, quoted by Payne-Smith under the latter
word; in lingua Nabathaea est oecononius et viatorum exceptor, etc. Observe the
accompanying name Nrrm.
No. 31 (CBS 9008)
pi"ne (5) pviB>2i pnrc PTDK x-^a XB2 fe^m sriDi^ (4)
TRANSLATION
This bowl is designated for the sealing (2) of the house of this
(Dadbeh bar Asmanducht, (3) that from him and his house may remove
the Tormentor (4) and the Curse and the very evil Dreams. Charmed;
fortified and confirmed, (5) corroborated, strengthened and sealed and
guarded are these bowls for the sealing (6) of the house of this Dahbeh
b. A., that they may not lodge together (with them). In the name of
Yahihu (7) NHRBTMW, S, MR'S, MRMR, 'oth Sasbiboth, Astar, Muta.
YSHN'H, Ah, Ah, Ah, Ahah, (8) AAAAAAA, Amen, Amen, Selah,
Hallulia.
Sealed and guarded shall be the house (9) and wife and sons of this
Dadbeh b. A., that there may remove from him and his house the Tor-
mentor and the Curse and evil Dreams. Amen.
COMMENTARY
For a general discussion of the epigraphy and language of this and
the following Syriac bowls (Nos. 31-37), see Introduction, 6. The
crosses in 1. 8 are the same as those which occur in the center "seals" of
these Syriac bowls.
(223)
224 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
-2. Dadbeh son of Asmanducht appears also in Nos. \2 and 16. Here
the latter name appears in full Persian form, -ducht.
4. JTiTO: see to 4: 6.
5. pb'no: for 'ne.-SDJo pi>n with reference to the four duplicate bowls.
vowels; cf. the magical use of the seven vowels in Greek; there at/a
PDYIJSD-' I
K 13 nrn roam nnruKii (2) nrvrn Kn^rir^ KDKS tn
Kin (4) Kimn T3jn Ktny srpen won siia KEa sto^n., (3) xninao njo
(5) Him HTB> pn!>3 i>y trpanm pn^y anai KTHS na
pa'5y p'S>Di Rel'y to n=v jinjnai (8) Haobi xrr^i Him [HTB> Htnn]
nrp[a IB] (9) pa [?!>] S.DKI sn^nni' []^in
D'n[m] TDKI K^anona [p]mp' i
aB' rinmi
TDK am nn b icwn H'Dip HS-JKI (10) la
nnno*
Knt3ii>i Hc"a Hobni in n mm nnu -ican^i
PDK n3n
TRANSLATION
This bowl is designated for the sealing of the house and the wife (2}
and the children of Dinoi bar Ispandarmed, that there remove from him
the Tormentor (3) and evil Dreams.
The bowl I deposit and sink down, awork which has been made (4)
like that which Rab Jesus bar Perahia sat and wrote against them, a
ban-writ against all the Demons and Devils (5) and Satans and Liliths
and Latbe which are in the house of Dinoi b. I. Again : he wrote against
them a ban-writ which is for all time, (6) by the virtue of 'TMDG, Atatot
Atot, within T( ?), Atot Atot the name, a writing within a writing. Through
which (words) were subjected (7) heaven and earth and the mountains and ;
through which the heights were commanded; and through which were
fettered Arts, Demons and Devils and Satans and Liliths and Latbe; (8)
and through which he passed over from this world and climbed above you
(225)
226 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
destruction, and ... to bring you forth (9) from the house of Dinoi b. I.,
and from all that is in his house, I have dismissed you by the ban-writ.
And charmed and sealed and countersealed is it, even as ancient runes fail
not, (10) and (like) ancient men who are not ... Again: charmed and
sealed and countersealed is this ban-writ by the virtue of YHYHYHYHYH,
YHYH, YHYH, A'. Amen, Amen, Selah.
of Dinoi
(11) Sealed and protected are the house and dwelling
b. I.
from the Tormentor and evil Dreams and the Curse. And sealed and pro-
COMMENTARY
Nos. 32 and 33 certain practically identical inscriptions, except that
they are made out in the name of different clients, and that No. 32 has
additional matter at the beginning and the end. This identity is fortunate
for the interpretation of the two bowls, for the lacunae in each one can be
almost wholly supplied from the other. Also No. 35 is made out for the
wife of the client of the present charm. The chirography of all three
bowls is the same, being more cursive than the script of No. 31.
The charms effected in this and the following bowl are attributed to a
certain master magician, Jesus bar Perahia, evidently the Joshua ben
Perahia, who appears in the same capacity in Nos. 8, 9, and 17.
Now Joshua ben Perahia is one of the several Zugoth or Pairs, who handed
down the tradition of the Law from the Great Synagogue and he flourished ;
in the reign of Alexander Jannaeus, in the early part of the first century
possess thyself of an associate, and judge every man on the scale of merit."
1
B. C. The tradition is of added interest because it connects Joshua with a
The passage in Sank. lo;b reads as follows: The rabbis taught: The left hand
should always push away, and the right hand receive favorably. Not like Elisha,
who drove away Gehazi with both hands, nor like Joshua b. P. who drove off Jesus
(in the Munich MS., and in Sota nxijn ie, i. e. Jesus the Nazarene) How
was that? When king Jannaeus killed the rabbis, R. Joshua b. P. and Jesus went
to Alexandria of Egypt. When peace was established, Simeon b. Setah sent a
message him: From Jerusalem the Holy City to thee Alexandria of Egypt, my
to
sister: My husband is lodged in thee, and I sit desolate. He (Joshua) arose, and
came, and lodged at a certain inn, where they paid him great respect. He said:
How fair is this inn (aksania). He (Jesus) said to him, Rabbi, her eyes (as though
by aksania the landlady was meant!) are too bleary. He replied to him: Thou
knave, thou busiest thyself with such stuff! He brought forth four hundred horns
and excommunicated him. He (Jesus) came in his presence many a time, and said,
Receive me he took no notice of him. One day he was reading the Shema, Jesus
;
again presented himself, thinking he would receive him. He made a sign to him
with his hand, he thought that he had utterly rejected him. He went off and erected
a tile and worshipped it. Joshua said to him, Repent. He replied, I have been
taught by thee that every sinner and seducer of the people can find no opportunity
for repentance. And so it was said: Jesus bewitched and seduced and drove off
Israel.
It is of interest that the Jesus of our texts is given a title which be-
came the epithet of the Nazarene Jesus with whom Talmudic tradition
cerning an early hero of the Law, who appears as endowed with magic
powers, and who furthermore was able to make the ascent of the soul to
heaven. He was accordingly one of the earliest to attain that spiritual
1
See Schurer, GJV 4
, i, 288.
2
The anecdote is found
in Sanhedrin io7b =
Sota 4/a; cf. Jerusalem Talmud
Hagiga, ii, 2, Sank, vi, 8. Dalman, in Laible's Jesus Christus im Talmud?, Appendix,
p. 8 ff., gives the texts of the first three passages, with critical apparatus, and Strack,
Jesus, die Haretiker u. d. Christen, 1910, 8, gives the texts from Hagiga, and the
Bab. Sanhedrin. Through the kindness of Dr. Julius H. Greenstone, I have also had
access to his rare copy of the Constantinople edition, 1585, of Sanhedrin. Dalman
quotes the Venetian editions of the two Talmuds, and the Jewish Encyclopaedia, s. v.
"Joshua P." cites the Amsterdam and Berlin edition of 1865 for the
b.
passage in
Sota. On
the criticism of the legend concerning Jesus, see Laible, p. 40 ff., and
Strack,
ad loc. The Jerusalem Talmud names Juda b. Tabai in place of Joshua
(they were
contemporaries) and omits mention of Jesus. Cf. Blau, p. 34, for some points of
interpretation. The introduction of Jesus is a sheer anachronism.
228 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
privilege, which was the claim of apocalyptists from the author of Enoch
down. See in general Bousset, "Die Himmelreise d. Seele," in Archiv f.
I4b (see Bousset, p. 145), and this mystical claim was asserted by the
2. ri33 :
plural with masc. sing, suffix, as in the texts above and in
Mandaic.
3. Oi xrm trie : see to 9 : i. I may now add the Syriac Ninia, "earthen-
ware figures" (of the gods), occurring in Overbeck, Hphraemi Syri ...
opera, 13, 1.
24. Compare also the Assyrian puru, "bowl," see Zimmern,
Beitrdge, 147, note k, and KAT, 518: but my etymology contravenes that of
Zimmern.
bhira (Sansk.), "terrifying." The word occurs only here and in No. 33.
5. K3t2i3: see to 9: 7.
6. The same magical reference appears in No. 32. For the practice
see the more perfect form in 9: 6.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 229
1DDJVK: from a denominative verb, arising from the root TDK. Payne-
Smith, col. 2181, gives a citation for 1DD, = vinxit catenis vel compedibus,
with which may be compared snuiDDD, actus ligationis, ib. col. 324. Also
cf. ivo, Glossary C.
anai toms 12 yia>" m 3'nn (3) Kin ^ Kimn TSJH *nny (2) x:wi wot snia
(9) feTs? HK'nn iDan^ pjnai NDNOT nnn^x pjnai -nt:i N[y-ii tv]nv (8)
(230)
No. 34 (CBS 9012)
x'ox WH 5ri ina (2) '2x2 13 trDTin irvm ruva poinni> xoxa xjn fora
1
KJ^S^I njn^> xnbx naae'sn sn^e sins (5) n'nm TDK c'nm TDK p'3 pninn
K'oc iJ3 D'nm TDK (6) xnsmi N-IID niosa D'nni I^DK pnhosi) pym
^wac (7) Di'2 pc'p KJip'isai J'TDK xn^oai xbrDi xaaia jnnm
n^KT Knitfu nbia so-nm NTDK n
Jni xiav !>wn:n x^no ^x^ni K^
nrjpi nT3i xnj3i liJ3i nnn:x nn'33 (8) 'xo 12 it'onin nn^ai mjan n^
(11) mox2 ionx tntri D^I IPBT ^31 pi^yj xb x^>yoi xnop 5>yi
nn'2 iDjn^i c^nnn^j ni'D pox pox xyixi x^tr xiB'ai' xmy wo
xn^m xn^33D n:o nrni 'DXO 13 (12) it'omn "irp!:T mjsi nj'jpi ,1331 nnnjxi
D'nnrrni xnu'SD'Di xaim xnoim Xj'n xn^33Di Senm XIT:I
TRANSLATION
This bowl is designated for the sealing of the house of Mihr-hormizd
bar Marrii (2) by power of the virtue of Jesus the healer, by the virtue
of my mighty relative. Charmed is the dwelling, and the abode (3) and
the house and the wife and the sons and the daughters of Mihr-hormizd, who
is b. M.
surnamed charmed and sealed (4) even as Moses commanded
;
theRed Sea and they (the waters) stood up like a wall on both sides.
Charmed and sealed, charmed and sealed, (5) by this word which God
(231)
UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
laid upon the earth and the trees which . . . their tops ;
charmed and sealed
with the seal of the mountains and heights; (6) charmed and sealed (with
the spell which is) in the heavens and the earth, the sun and the moon,
the stars and (zodiacal) and by the word they are charmed and
signs,
remain in ward. In the name of (7) Michael the healer and Rofiel the
M. (8) and in his house (and) his wife and his sons and his daughters
and his cattle and his property and in all his dwelling, by the signet of
Arion son of Zand and by the seal of King Solomon son of David, (9) -by
which were sealed the Oppressors and the Latbe. And we have sealed
with the seal of El Saddai and Abraxas the mighty lord, and the great
seal with which were sealed heaven and earth and all Demons (10) and
foul Knots and Latbe, which contend against him. And a seal is this
against Harm and Constraint (?), that they shall not at all enter in. And
every Dantkar and Sait and Sara are charmed by the spell of (n) fire and
the enchainment of water until the dissolution of heaven and earth. Amen,
Amen, Selah. Sealed and guarded be the house and wife and sons and
property and body of Mihr-hormizd (12) b. M., and depart from him the
Injurer and evil Dreams and the Curse and the Vow and Arts and the
Tormentor and Damages and Losses and Failures and Poverty.
And sealed and protected be Bahroi bath Bath-Sahde from the
Tormentor and evil Dreams and the Curse and the Vow and Arts and
Practices. And charmed be the Tormentor and Lilith and Ban-spirit, who
thwarts her in her hand and foot, and may it not approach nor afflict this
Bahroi b. B.
COMMENTARY
The text is of the same order as those immediately preceding. At the
end the charm is operated for a woman (with a Christian name), presum-
ably the wife of the chief client of the text.
I. twin: the reading is certain, and the word is parallel to xnonn
in the previous inscriptions, but the formation is unique, if it be not an
error; 'Oinn would be a Pael inf.
or angels, e. g. Michael, 1.
7. See introduction to notes on No. 32.
for e?
The charm is the effective one used by Moses at the Red Sea, cf. Ex.
14 : 22. See p. 64 for the magical use of such episodes. But the plural
lOp is a reminiscence of Josh. 3 :
16, and indicates conflation of the two
narratives. J'D'J pmin \o appears to be a confusion for [irvD'O inn JD. "nn
is Palmyrene and Rabbinic, not Edessene, but is found in neo-Syriac,
Noldeke, Mand. Gram., 153.
5. n33E>K: of laying a spell; the same verb for laying a ghost, 16: n.
The Afel is a hebraism. Compare Is. g: 7 : "a word Yahwe has sent in
Jacob, and it has fallen in Israel" ; i. e. the magical word itself is potent.
ancient "big" trees; cf. Isaia's denunciation of "everything high and lifted
up," 2: 5 ff., and especially his woe upon the cedars of Lebanon and the
Jtran 'Ji!>K ,
v. 13. Then v. 14 is parallel to the Nnscni X11D of 1. 5. The
following relative clause is almost unintelligible. The root jm is found
only in Arabic, = "withhold, refuse." The next word I identify with the
Biblical
TDK, 17: 6 (possibly, with some critics, also
Is. in Gen. 49: 21).
The old tree-myth may have told how the trees flaunted their high tops
against the gods. The obscurity of the passage may be clue to corruption
of the form of the legend. The '
of pirnox appears to be used as one of
the Seyame points.
K?~I, and, agreeably to the etymology of Raphael and parallel to the epithet
applied to Gabriel, the participle is used in the sense "to relieve," sc. the
sick. Cf. Baba Bathra 16 b, STXp ^TK NDV ^TK; "when the day is high,
the sick man is relieved." In the Syriac the Pael came to be used in the
sense of "saving," see Payne-Smith, col. 903.
Babylonian Seven) who attack and devour the blood of the cattle, is given
Pennsylvania Germans.
13T 13 Ji'iX : this sorcerer's name appears also in No. 19: 13, 17, and
the two passages help mutually to identify the words.
:
Etpa. of KTJ?, probably metaplastic for Tty .
: for the prosthetic vowel see Noldeke, Syr. Gram., 51, Mand.
Gram., 24 (n. b. the equivalence of '3^ and 'p Mandaic). The
by, as in
word may mean ugliness or some more specific malady. Cf. the charms
in the Greek magical papyri for obtaining good looks.
The parallel xnop must also mean some kind of malady, and may be
identified with the Assyrian kamtu, "misery" ( Muss-Arnolt, Diet. 366),
which is to be connected with the Hebrew and Aramaic root tsop,
'
the first word is evidently an absolute infinitive from >y,
plus a (= me"ela me' la, cf. the noun ma'lu). For this formation with
final a, Noldeke offers a Mandaic instance, Mand. Gram., 250, last line,
appears ;
cf. the Mandaic form pyvn, cited by Noldeke, ibid., 249, ad infra.
snB>l B'tri npm bai : all three words are obscure. The second may be
the tre>of the Kre to Is. 28: 15,
= Bit?, "scourge." The third may be the
Rabbinic K1K>, "prince, demon"; or the Hebrew serah (also Aramaic)
"chain, necklace," cf. the magical snp:y. But diseases are apparently in-
tended (cf. )nyDK above), and we may identify tre> with the Syriac Saita,
"eye-tumor" (Payne-Smith, col. 4094), and Kit? with the Syriac ne>
11. K'O jbtTVSl tni3 TIDK: fire and water are potent over demons. J^tTC'
Fluchtafeln, no. 7.
'31 NiB'D^ sons?: the demons are to be bound till the end of the present
aeon; then will begin a new order, which will include the final destruction
of their power; cf. 2 Pet. 3: 12: ovpavol wfjovfievoi farfHjaovrat; also Enoch.
12. Wt :
"loss"; see Jastrow, p. 393, Payne-Smith, col. 1118. For the
personification of all kinds of losses, see p. 94.
13. '31 Nnnoe>O: epithets of the Lilith, who is also the Witch, who can
"bind" the limbs of her victim ;
see No. 42 and p. 78. Superior points for
the feminine suffix are used here as also in No. 35.
14. iBirn :
switchings by demons are a common theme of magic, see
i: 10; compare the Christian hagiological legends.
No. 35 (CBS 16097)
m (3) naiTsm rhjsni ny:p-n rm-ii rural (2) Kmaji xnonni' KDX3 sun
oi x^iaxni SO'DIDI (4) KJCDI KIH[I] xLae* KTB> jo
snt3ii> 5>a IDT fc^mo NT^ X'JD Kin i>3 to ^noia (7) na
t<na .
p 5>n Iti]:^!
. . . 3 . . i Kiansni H^hi (8) S]nan XB>JK
Kumboi, that she may be guarded from Demons, Plagues and Devils
and Satans (4) and Seducers and Diaboli, and from any Vows
and Invocations and Rites of mankind; in the name of (5) arsi,
ardi and man; Michael and Nuriel and Saltiel and Mantariel and
Hithmiel. (6) And they were commissioned along with Moses to
wardship, and
they will guard (7) this Maiducht b. K. from all
mankind, of men (8) and of women, and of Idol-spirits who (are known)
and who are not (known) by name. And in the name of ., Hamariel . .
(10) and seal this Maiducht b. K. from everything evil, for the ages
(236)
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 237
COMMENTARY
Largely a replica of No. 34. It is made out for the wife of the client
2. rDWNO: for the the first element Mai see Justi, p. 187. The name
also appears in the unpublished No. 16093.
spirits," corresponding to the words before and after. The form may be
explained as a Pi'lel participle, with rejection of prefix. Cf. 2 Ki, 22:
n!n3irn: some of the characters are uncertain, but the word is suf-
ficiently clear. It appears in Syriac only (in the singular in -6s) in the
Arabic lexicons; see Payne-Smith, col. 868.
ttnnp: evidently the same as the common simp. Notice the distinction
made here between diabolic arts and human machinations.
5. For the assonance, see p. 61. Letters and angels are practically
the same; see p. 99. Of these angels, Nuriel is one of the archangels (also
Uriel), Mantariel and Hithmiel are unique, Saltiel is listed by Schwab as
-a vntj> toE'D] iirbw i^y B"DB> (3) sno . . . 'mp ID "OPI PIE Pia
ann toi sntj^a Kirn 5>y n^y b'i&n Kb'n ^ arv (4) r-ni nraa . . .m ^
jv:n2o snpnoi jinnno'si xjm (5) Spoin K^OPT unipun hb
n^'i tinnno'K^ xja ji'n^T (6) KDN^D j^m prrmp ID pis
^n] (7) 'onp ID Pia nt5"a Nnn ^PEK nm ^ an NOBH 1
i 'KWR KHIPJ (IK . . . 5>i3Ki x^n n'al> 5"tKi ND^DJ sonn KJH to
TRANSLATION
. . .
designated is this bowl . . . turned away ... (2) of that Murderess,
The lord (3) Sames (the Sun) has charged me against thee, Sin (the
Moon) has sent me, Bel has commanded me, Nannai has said to me, and
..... and Nirig (Nergal) (4) has given me power to go against the evil
spirit, against Dodib, whom they call the Strangler, who kills the young
(5) in the womb of their mothers, and they are called "Slayer," and their
fathers "Destroyer." Go from the presence of these holy angels (6) that
sons may come to birth to their mothers and little children to their fathers.
Because he has given me a name by which I shall drive thee forth, Evil
Spirit. Go from the presence of (7) [these angels] and depart from this
engraved seal, and go to the bridal chamber and eat. moreover drink . .
;
a libation and [depart from daughter of ]-izduch and her .... (8)
. . . . . .
COMMENTARY
This inscription has a twofold interest. Its magic purpose is the
insurance of a bride against the goblin which would destroy her powers oi
motherhood ; the evil spirit is invited to go to the bridal chamber and there
(238)
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 239
some way incapacitate his powers; the text is badly obscured, but enough
survives to recall the book of Tobit and the charm Raphael performed
against the demon which haunted the chamber of Tobias's bride. Magic is
full of this lilith witch who destroys love; for an early instance, cf. the
Afo/M-series, iii, i ff . : "The witch who robs the love of the
The other feature of interest is that the charm is given as though from
the old pagan deities, the lord Sames, Sin, Bel, Nannai, and Nirig, the an-
cient Nergal. All these except Nannai survived as evil spirits, the spirits
any Mandaic trace. (This more antique aspect of these deities appears in
the early Mandaic amulet published by Lidzbarski, in the de Vogue volume,
where, 1.
247 ff., "Samis, Bel, Nirig and Kewan have strengthened him.")
It is a relic of the religion which survived to a comparatively late date in
Harran. The charm is given in the form of an oracle from these deities
according to ancient magical use ;
see p. 100. For these Syrian deities see
the list given by Jacob of Sarug, edited by Martin, ZDMG, xxix, 110131,
and in general for the material Chwolson, d. Ssabier u. d. Ssabismus (1856).
For the use made by the Harranian pagans of "magic, conjurations, knots,
figures, amulets," etc., see Chwolson's extract from the Fihrist, ibid., ii,
21 ; for their use of oracles, p. 19.
Ki'D: 3 is more likely than i, and we obtain a form of Sin in the Syriac.
The Mandaic has both J'D and NTD.
'3: a dialectic form of b'3 (Mandaic). For analogies in neo- Punic
names ('3, TD, 3), see Lidzbarski, Handbuch, 289; CIS, Inscr. phoen.,
no. 869; and in Syriac the deity Beducht (Bel's or Beltis's, daughter), see
240 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
for the later character of this deity G. Hoffmann, Auszuge, 130 ff., 151 ff.
(for later literature, Roscher's Lexicon, s. v. "Nana"). She combined both
Venus- and Diana-like characteristics, and thus appears on coins with a
crescent on her head (ibid., 152). This lunar characteristic doubtless ex-
plains the gender of the deity in our text, where as the verb shows, he is
masculine. In his history the moon god has vacillated between the two
genders, and while in later religion the moon's character has generally been
denned as female, nevertheless in the Harranian religion the moon was
androgynous; see the excursus by Chwolson in his Ssabier, i, 399 ff.
may be noticed that in the reference to Antiochos Epiphanes' raid upon the
q. v.
KJTpun: the normal feminine .of this formation, as against xr6iop. The
same evil spirit, xnpun XDK, "Strangling Mother" (of babes) appears twice
in Gollancz's Syriac charms, pp. 81, 83 (in Actes of the nth Congr. of
Orientalists, sect. 4). And the like epithet is found in the Greek amulet
AiijUop^E, i'i eKtpxofiivii eirt ra fUKpa vatSia, jjrtf i%ei; X e 'P a oiSripav Kal aiipeif ra Traiiia icai
tMvTUf avra Kal Ttfavruoiv. And there follow immediately "the names of the holy
angels," just as these are referred to in 1. See notes on No. 42. With
5.
jtpijvr
= Kpvn 37: 10, kfPVi 18: 6, with assimilation of the dental to p.
01 K'ipnoi : Mandaic form of the fern. pi. The best interpretation of the
line is that the mischief wrought to the embryo was charged to the parents
who so gained the ill- fame of infanticfdes. Cf. Ginza ii, 98 (ed. Norberg) :
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 241
"hence have arisen the abortive ones who make abortions and destroy the
foetus." The epithets are in the singular, being used distributively.
6. fvru: "come to the birth." Cf. Rabbinic Nn"n, "midwife," and the
arv KOCH: the antecedent is uncertain ; probably the charm has been ab-
breviated.
xW>n rvaS ^tx the : -n <a is the common Syriac term for the marriage
chamber, or the nuptials in general. The imperative is apparently addressed
like the preceding imperative to the demon who is bidden to go, if she dare,
to the wedding, and there partake of the magic foods prepared against her.
'31 "HIP . . . . :
probably a Persian feminine name in -duch, the bride's
name to be filled out here. The following word is obscure, the missing rad-
ical may be b.
No. 37 (CBS 2943)
nrm[i rm] nnrux nnsipow nn[<3i] (2) sio-nfr sniD]}6 NDNS wn IE [to]
KVaty NcJn'BT ni^y svi ... (9) ni> p^Dpi pb'p ftionp scanni K
Kin pnmi .3. . .
(10) . . . DI xnn Kpn^oi Nntr i"
TRANSLATION
Designated is this bowl for the [salvation and] healing (2) of the house
and threshold, the wife, [the sons and] daughters, the cattle, (3) [and all
that] is his, and whatsoever shall belong to Zaroi son of ... (4) con- . . .
firmed by the virtue of the word of God, the Mystery of heaven and the
Mystery of the assembled waters and the Mystery of earth, (5) ... of this
house I will enjoin all that is in it, Arts and the Tormentor ( ?) (6) . . .
[and the Image-spirits] of idolatry, and all the Legions and the Amulet-
Angels wrath coming against him and with sabres and sword standing
in
before him and ready to kill him. (9) ... against the word heard (?).
He sits in and quaffing,
the house, eating and devouring, drinking (10) . . .
[a slayer of ?] children is he, and Master named ..... is he, and Jinn ( ?) ;
named. Peace your father ... ( 1 1 ) ... Peace from the male Gods and
. . .
(242)
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 243
COMMENTARY
A badly mutilated bowl with much of the inscription illegible. It is of
pagan origin ;
in the name of God the Mystery of heaven, water and earth,
it concludes with a pax vobiscum from the gods. The expression "victorious
peace," 1. II, recalls the standing Mandaic doxology, "Life is victorious," and
the threefold division of the universe may be from the same source. The
charm is against a murderous house spirit and is in part parallel to No. 36;
here the demon is masculine and is represented as carousing upon the blood
of his victims. The quarterings of the circle or seal in the center contain
letters of the Tetragrammaton apparently n\
I . K3DV1 : a Persian word noted by the native Syriac lexicographers,
and neo-Syriac; also in Pognon B. See Noldeke, Syr. Gram., 127.
present spelling substantiates Zar- against other readings ; see Justi, p. 383.
8. SON^D VKi: either in appositional sense, KtK"i used like SOD'S, see p.
p. 86, or 'i refers to the magical rites conjuring the angels who are called
9. Nj?OE> : for Ky'OE>: the incantation heard? The following ppls. repre-
sent the carousing of the demon over the flesh and blood of his victims.
(3) nriK;ai ruai njs'j^i rbym mn (2) nrra rtotoi tnt TDJ?
TVPDV nntmi -331 rrmn XIN-I^I 'tn HE (4) snvirrn nnun xnsoxi
ea Knsa-ntr (6) pn'B-i Kcn^ni pnwviB' pn^iai nx:x xn'W 'KJK' (5)
i
iins:2 fOl JVN32 }O1 |V[Slt] (10) ;
(14) pn]
p^xay 'nn [ns snjinj
1
-!'! n'nrn im
Exterior
(15)
TRANSLATION
Charmed, armed and equipped are the house, (2) the dwelling and
mansion and barn, and the sons and daughters, (3) and the cattle and house-
hold vessels of Hinduitha (4) bath Dodai and (of) Marada, even her
husband and her sons and daughters.
Charmed art thou, (5) Lilith Yannai, and all thy Broods, even the three
hundred and sixty (6) Broods, by the word and command of the angel
Negoznai, by the mysteries and ordinance (7) of the living God, in the name
(244)
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 245
of the virtue of strong and mighty Deity, and by the seal (8) of the angel
Idol-spirits (9) and Ishtars from the body of Marabba and Zadoye and
Dazaunoye sons of Hinduitha, and from Hinduitha and from her house and
her bed and from (10) their [wives] and their sons and their daughters
and their cattle.
Charmed and confined and restrained and hobbled is the mighty Istar
(il) and the three hundred and sixty Broods, which I have dismissed
from her one after the other.
Charmed are all the Amulet-spirits that dwell in the houses of men and
waste them; (12) charmed and hobbled and suppressed and covered and
squeezed under the foot of Marabba bar Hinduitha and under the foot of
Zadoye and Dazaunoye sons of Hinduitha, (13) and under the foot of
Hinduitha b. D. And life, abundance, health and arming and sealing and
protection be to their body, and their wives and their sons and their daugh-
ters and their cattle ( 14) and the people of their houses, both those entering
and departing with Marabba and Zadoye and Dazaunoye sons of Hinduitha,
and with Hinduitha b. D. their mother, and her daughters.
Exterior
COMMENTARY
For the language and script of this and the following Mandaic bowls,
see 7.
The hyn (which is found in the Mandaic literature in the original meaning)
is here reduced from the sense of "temple, palace," as in Babylonian, to that
of a private mansion. The word also appears in Hyvernat, 1.
15. In 40: 4,
2. rua for the plur. w. suffix, see Noldeke, Mand. Gram., 144.
singular Nnvn.
Aramaic, having been replaced by the derivative man. In the Talmud vessels
are favorite abodes of the demons. One is tempted to regard the word as
a plural of NJJf, "sheep," but for the following "of the house."
Hadad; or the first element may be the deity Mar, Bir, etc. (see Clay.
Amurru, 95), so that the name is equivalent to the ancient Damascene name
Tima (as in Pognon's Zakar inscription), the Biblical Benhadad. With
inexact construction, M. is the husband. For i . . . i = "both, and," cf.
1.
14.
"lilith" and "angel" are interchangeable titles for this being. Cf. the Lilith
'wm , 40: 17.
Noldeke, p. 44. The original formation is that of the Syriac noun pakadta.
9. toiKO: 1.
14 K2K1KD, in 1. 12 with the second N caretted; an old theo-
SWNT : Persian Zadoe, see Justi, p. 378, quoting a name of the fifth
century.
82.
the bowls of Pognon and Lidzbarski, and defines the word as used in the
Mandaic literature, thus relieving Noldeke's doubt. Cf. a like series of
passive ppls. at end of Lidzb. 4.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 247
ragala, "strike, tie (a sheep) on the foot." The word occurs in Lidzb. 4.
1 1 .
n^p'ne
1
: the passage is identical with
40 22, except for the latter's
:
reading, HTp'aE', "which I have dismissed from him" the present text is to
;
|WT*mrwiB = 40: 23. For the fem. pi. in K, see ibid., 162.
XJDKO : I can suggest only the root jcy, found in the Rabbinic ptjy,
14. JWNP : with change of construction from the preposition ^5? ; cf.
(7) WJND wJNvm jwa srtj'JK [jwi]n x'Toy KnKB'R'iin snuapu (6)
inn (8) xn'pi wnenDi KtJni N'a-ini troi/ajKn K'jNan istm we^a N'rxii
vn^ ? 1
JNTDJ? nnxns na snsni :n.3 nbx^osTOT sn^"^ KTDJ? Kmp.on (9) nbs'oxTDT
N'Dsn K'JNitnsi '!"!> K'oirn sbs'[ox]nT ^jn nwD (10) xriKisn pni'io
KHIDN Din ... [3]5>D tei> j[io]'^i (11) n[pT']3 'D'nm xn'o
na [woTn n]Dj?i (12) [xD"i]-m nS'Kmoi'i njosni' nVinn Knonm
TRANSLATION
Health and arming and sealing and protection (2) be for . . . and the
body and soul (3) and the unborn child and womb of Bardesa whose
mother is the daughter of Dade. (4) Charmed are the Sorcery-spirits in
stocks of iron; charmed the Lilith (5) in chains of lead; charmed the
(6) charmed [the arts of?] evil men and hostile Beasts, (7) and evil
Mysteries and the (magic) Circle of malignant Masters and Sages and
Doctors, and the melting of Wax figures (8) of him who is alive: from the
unborn child and womb of Bardesa whose mother is Terme b. D.
Charmed the Lilith that appears to her (9) in . . .
;
charmed the Lilith
that appears to her in [shape?] of Tata her sister's daughter; charmed all
the defiling Ghosts (10) that have entered, which appear to her in Dreams
of night and in Visions of day; charmed and sealed with the seal of (n)
King Solomon.
Again: Health and arming and sealing be for the womb and the
parturition of Bardesa (12) whose mother is Terme b. D.
(248)
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 249
COMMENTARY
A charm for a pregnant woman. I may compare the mortuary incan-
for the unborn child, tby, of the petitioner. From 1. 4 the present charm
is very similar to that in Pognon A.
2. JOINT: so in Pognon B, in Lidzb. 5, jnKt; a feminine form in -e, cf.
ers," Norberg, Onom., no. For the meaning cf. Ass. sdhiru; in this sense
the root is not otherwise found in Rabbinic and Syriac.
'& NHXD: Pognon's text, KH1KD (to be cited to Noldeke, 89, la),
5. N1X3N: the Syriac N13N was used for "lead" and "tin," according to
the Syriac lexicographers, who postulate a distinction between abara and
abrd, or abara and ebara but dispute which word is applied to which metal
(Payne-Smith, col. 19). Both lead and tin were used in magic, the former
especially in the /cardrfco/ioi like the love-charm from Hadrumetum, the
,
Cypriote defixiones (SPBA, xiii, 160, etc.), and cf. Index to Wessely, xlii,
weight of the former metal may better suit the symbolism of the language.
As to the meaning of the Assyrian abar Assyriologists are at variance.
Lenormant, in TSBA, vi, 337 f., 346, Argues correctly from the alloy
mentioned in iv R no. 2, rev. 17, that abar = lead and anaku = tin. How-
ever Sayce, Archaeology of the Cuneiform Inscriptions, p. 60, denies that
the Sumerian or Assyrian word for tin is known. Lyon, in his Keilschrift-
texte Sargons, 53, 82, makes anaku = lead (eft. Heb. 13K) and leaves abar
the heavier metal lead. The Hebrew for "tin" is bna, which however
in Zech. 4 : 10 may rather be "lead." This confusion between lead and tin
p. nigrum is lead, and p. candidum tin; see Pliny H. N., xxxiv, 47 (ed.
msy vs. 'abara, and Heb. 'anak vs. Syr. 'ane ka, appear to be attempts at
differentiation, may, apparently "lead," appears in W. T. Ellis's bowl-text,
which I have edited in JAOS, 1912, 434.
N'JNVTi ;
possibly absolute pi. (-a from -an) ;
or a masc. plural form, cf.
46. I interpret the word of the magic circle, part of the dreaded arts of
the necromancer ;
see p. 88.
10. NnwKD : I connect this, as a participle, with the root I'D, Arabic
"shoe." The same word, masc. and fern., occurs in Pognon A, p. 40, which
he would derive from KJD "hate," but without explanation of the form.
that in Sachau's Elephantine papyri occurs the metathesis |KD for KJD,
11. Din : doubtless = 3in, "again," so often found on our bowls. Thus
Noldeke's explanation of Din in the Mandaic literature (Mand. Gram., 204)
is confirmed. nSsnio for the form, see ibid., 67.
No. 40 (CBS 2971)
.....K"n sbs (6) rp'btwDioi IID'^K rriE'K K"n p tfUKtna] na viND3tn(5) mnn
Exterior
nj3i nisn TIKDS masi n^inn NHIDXI SOTI jo njn na 'KHKIDT (16)
... |vxrnpB3'i "n N^S |VN^Kn3 Nas^o win nns ns nnbjo3 (18)
nxns;' roy ^131 ssxt'o smn sonns s-rpn (19)
niNt IGI nijs ID snxnnD^yti] (20) K'snsi xmsyi . . .
[K'
TRANSLATION
In the name of Life ! that health (2) and armament be
body to the
and wife and male sons (3) and female daughters, and the house and
(252)
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 253
abode, the mansion (4) and the barn of the cattle, the ass, bull and goat,
the property of (5) Xaro bar Mehanos, from Life.
I swear and adjure you (6) by Life.
"(12) and have broken you in the gate of Xaro b. M., the man and his
I
wife. [Health and protection, etc., from] the Liliths, when they appear in
the house of Xaro (13) b. M., from Life. And health and armament and
healing and guarding [be to ] and female daughters and the the male sons
house ( 14) and dwelling and mansion and the barn of the ass, bull and
goat, the live (?) property of [Xaro b. M.], from Life. And health and
armament (15) be to the body and the male sons and female daughters and
the house and dwelling and mansion of (16) Merathe daughter of Hindu,
from Life. And health be to the body of Xaro . . . and the wife and male
sons [and female daughters and the house and dwelling] and mansion and
body and the wife and sons and daughters and the house and dwelling and
mansion and barn of Xaro (21) M. Charmed, shut up and confined and
b.
hobbled is the Ishftar] and the three hundred and sixty Tribes, (22)
. .
.,
which I have dismissed from him one after [the other. Charmed] are
. . .
COMMENTARY
A long and repetitious charm for a certain man and his family and
property, including the several kinds of live-stock. About half of the
i . With the same invocation begin the sections of the Ginza, also some
of Pognon's bowls.
xniDNi : for 1 of purpose, see the like phrase in Pognon, e. g. no. 14,
and Noldeke, Mand. Gram., 293.
ad he., and used as a collective plural, Noldeke, Syr. Gram., 91. The follow-
ing word was written tMiwi, ~\ was then caretted above, and finally the word
rewritten.
N-irtn: for 'Vn, cf. Noldeke, ibid., 47. The word is used like the
w
supplemented apparently by K n, "livestock." =
5. nD3 :
evidently an old Persian name in Koseform; cf. AAseri,
Xsayarsa, Arta^sathra, Justi, pp. 12, 173, 34. The K in OKI, here and again
below, represents the vowel of the prefix, before the vowelless first radical.
Enjxno r= Meh = Mithra, plus Anos, a Persian genius, Justi, pp. 208,
17-
K"n jo : the long period which this phrase concludes is paralleled below.
tn'K^H : this ancient and full form of the preposition appears in Pognon
B, but not in Noldeke, under 159.
6. "n t6x: cf. 1. 18, N"n K|JK pt6iru. 'K = the preposition just noted,
a case of casting out devils by Beelzebub. The sorcerer affects that he has
received from one of her brood the proper charms by which to bind her.
Observe interchange of N3t6o with WvW>.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 255
01 jVK^jna :
"by that which is upon," i. e. "by the adjuration of" Life.
For the redoubled preposition, see Noldeke, 231 b. For the phrase, see
to 1. 6.
26. JN'3Kr K"n; the same doxological formula in Pognon, B, no. 22,
and Liclzb. 5.
APPENDIX
No. 41 (CBS 179)
1
This text is unique, being inscribed on the top of a human skull.
In the first line of the longer text are visible the words, xrtt, pnyi;
in the second nil n3K .
indicating an address to the evil spirit. The fol-
lowing names are visible: -pis, cf. 5: i; (?) ^xc> p '3TiD, also spelt '1O,
"Mordecai ben Saul"; and a woman's name (evidently the wife of the
first-named man r6j?a can be read in one place), 'SDJ, so the almost certain
1
This statement must now be qualified, as I learn through Professor Ranke that
two similar skulls are in the Berlin Museum.
(256)
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 257
human bones are used, and in a late Arabic charm a broom from a cemetery
has efficacy in bringing the beloved to the lover's side (see to No. 28).
Cf. the burial of Pognon's bowls in a cemetery. Primitive animistic beliefs
have survived, which connect the skeleton with the world of spirits ;
it is
a material point d'appui, and the skull is especially preferred as the most
striking and perhaps most durable part of the anatomy. It may be noticed
that in Arabic the word for skull is also used of the soul (Wellh. Skizzen,
2
3, p. 161, 164), There is a reference in the Talmud to the necromantic
use of a skull; Sank. 6$b: "there are two kinds of necromancy (31N 7l?3),
the one where the dead is raised by naming him, the other where he is
vogue among
special the Sabians ; see Chwolson, Die Ssabier, ii, 150, and
Dozy and cle Goeje, Actes of the Leyclen (6th) Congress of Orientalists, ii,
King, Gnostics an-d their Remains, 213 (ed. 2, 180). The skull therefore
falls into the general category of frightful or obscene objects, which had
the power of repelling the evil eye in particular and evil spirits in general.
*
Dr. Speck, of the Museum, informs me that the North American Indians
carefully preserve the skulls of the animals they hunt, as a means of the reincarna-
tion of the beasts, and I understand like customs are found over the world.
No. 42
Towards the close of my work on this volume, Professor Richard
Gottheil, who had several years ago thought of publishing the bowls,
kindly forwarded me some notes and transcriptions which he had made in
his preliminary essays. Among the papers was the copy of a text which
is not now found in the Museum. It differed so radically from the other
rpn trajn in^N ny^ nvi TI IDB>B> D'anan ae>r S>SOB" <ni>N
!>2i nxeitin mil nxcc ro^in ns JK n!> ISK r6n na ioai nytmn m^!>a y-21
mi>vn Tva!> nai'in '3^ in^s ^ns i^ n^xm ivm c35>in C'KOD I^H na
(258)
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 259
riK pnni' n,i>H me *6i nx K!> ^iri K!>E> n"a nixsvn <ni>K rnai mm '-IBD
Accompanying the text are given some inscribed designs and phrases.
A rough figure of a hand (prophylactic against the evil eye) contains the
Aramaic legend :
"I am the seed-producer (?) of Joseph; when I come, an evil year cannot
prevail over him," a play of thought between Joseph as controller of the
fertility of Egypt and the fertility of the family, and as a good omen for
Adonai, on the left hand JCE', "Satan," in another division 23K and nearby
pJV( ?), i. e. prvj3K, to be found in Schwab, Vocab. Another species of the
shield more roughly designed contains mrp in the center, flanked with (V, etc.
and TIX, with piBBQ and on either side. The changes are rung on
IlsblJD
the possible mutations of pT, and the scripture Dt. 28: 10 is cited. Similar
charms against the Lilith are to be found at the end of Sefer Raziel and in
Buxtorf's Lexicon, s. v.
TRANSLATION
Shaddai
In the name of Y" the God of Israel who besits the cherubs, whose
name is living and enduring forever. Elija the prophet was walking in
the road and he met the wicked Lilith and all her band. He said to her,
Where art thou going, Foul one and Spirit of foulness, with all thy foul
band walking along? And she answered and said to him: My lord Elija, T
260 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
his name ! With a ban from the Name bless it shalt thou be restrained !
and like a stone shalt thou be ! And she answered and said to him For :
the sake of Y" postpone the ban and I will flee, and will swear to thee in
the name of Y" God of Israel that I will let go this business in the case
of this woman in childbirth and the child to be born to her and every
Satriha, Kali, Batzeh, Taltui, Kitsa. And Elija answered and said to
her: Lo, I adjure thee and all thy band, in the name of Y" God of Israel,
by gematria 613, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and in the name of his holy
Shekina, and in the name of the ten holy Seraphs, the Wheels and the holy
Beasts and the Ten Books of the Law, and by the might of the God of
Hosts, blessed is he ! that thou come not, thou nor thy band to injure this
woman or the child she is bearing, nor to drink his blood nor to suck the
marrow of his bones nor to devour his flesh, nor to touch them neither in
their 256 limbs nor in their 365 ligaments and veins, even as she is (
=
thou art?) not able to count the number of the stars of heaven nor to dry
up the water of the sea. In the name of : 'Hasdiel Samriel has rent Satan.'
COMMENTARY
Only a few detailed notes are necessary. Of the terms at the beginning,
'UDJD '13D and SI^JJDD are common in childbirth charms (see Schwab.
Vocab., s. Tt'.). The second is erroneously explained by Schwab; it is '3 DE>,
run ro NTS' I would read as run ra rrrx, the first as the indefinite
pronoun fern, quaequac, the last as representing the Greek Seiva, which i.-'
commonly used in the papyri, the actual name being inserted upon use.
613: the figure is the gematriac sum of 'the Lord God of Israel,' as also
the number of
positive and negative commandments of the Law. As Mr.
A. Simon, Harrison Fellow of the University, has suggested to me, the
The "256 limbs" are 248 in Jewish lore. . For the 365 ligaments, cf.
The 10 Books of the Law are the double of the Pentateuch; cf. the
Eighth Book of Moses in the Leyden MS. which Dieterich has published
at the end of his Abraxas.
that whenever they confront her, she will retire; the knowledge of hei
names binds her (cf. p. 56).
1
In Actes of the 8th International Congress of Orientalists, Sect. 4, p. 77. Most
of these charms are in the narrative style. Cf. also a similar Syriac charm given
by Hazard, JAOS, xv, 286 f.
262 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
Lord (in the Hebrew "' 11D, a book I have not been able to obtain).
This Jewish legend is almost identical with ours. It is considerably
shorter, concluding with the names of the and a direction to hang
Lilith
up the names in the room of the woman concerned. The names are almost
identical with those in our text ; they are : Satrina, Lilith, Abito, Amizo,
Izorpo, Koko, Odam, Ita, Podo, Eilo, Patrota, Abiko, Kea, Kali, Batna,
Talto, Partasah. My form Amorpho is probably older; Koko =/>a/>fmay be
preferable to my Kas.
In both these Jewish forms Elija and the Lilith are the actors. In the
the latter has for one of her names that of "the Strangling-mother of
1
children' (cf. above to 36: 4). In the European Christian legends, the
benevolent actor is the Virgin, Michael, or a certain saint bearing the name
Sisoe, or Sisynios. These names are derived from the Jewish 'UCJD 'i:o,
as Caster suggests. In the Greek legend the spirit is Gylo, the earlier rr/Xu,
2
which appears also in the magical papyri. In all children are the object
of the fiend's ravages, in one case the charm is for a boy afflicted with
cataract.
There are some other simpler forms of this legend contained in Greek
manuscript amulets which were not accessible to Dr. Caster. In his
reads : "When the archangel Michael came down from heaven, there met
him the impure spirit with her hair down her back and her eyes inflamed.
And the archangel Michael said to her: Whence comest and whither goest
thou ? The impure one answered and said to him : I go to enter the house
as a serpent, dragon, reptile, I change into a quadruped, I go to make the
plagues of women, to humble their heart, to dry up the milk, to raise the
hair of the master of the house .... and then I kill them. For my name
is called Paxarea. For when the Holy Mary bore the Word of Truth
2
Wessely, Vienna Denkscliriften, xlii, 66, also Tvkov, Reitzenstein, Poimandres,
298. For Gello = the Assyrian Gallu, see Frank, ZA, xxiv, 161.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 263
I went to deceive her and ..?..* And the archangel Michael seized her
by the locks on the right hand and said to her Tell me thy twelve names.* :
And she said: I am called first Gelou, second Morphous, (third, etc.)
Karanichos, Amixous, Amidazou, Marmalat, Karane, Selenous, Abiza,
Ariane, Maran. Wherever are found my twelve names and thy name,
archangel Michael, and thy name Sisinios and Sinodoros, I will not enter
into the house of such a one." Compare also the amulet given on the
preceding page in Reitzenstein (p. 297), lacking the reference to the Virgin,
the demon enumerating her plagues.
A similar legend, in large part identical with both these just named.
descending from Sinai meets the hag Abuzou" and the demons cast out of
heaven. He inquires where she is going; she answers she crawls into
houses like a serpent, dragon, etc., to bring all evils on men, to dry up the
mother's milk, to wake the children and kill them. Then, evidently a
Christian accretion, she causes faction in the church, sends floods, destroys
ships. Michael asks her her name, which is Pataxaro. He asks for hei
many names. She swears by the throne of God and the eye (= eyes)
of the Beasts (cf. the oath in our text) that she will tell the truth. She
then gives forty names, the first two of which are Gilou, Morphou.
The legend sometimes ran out into the line of particular diseases, e. g.
appears also in the charm names. To compare the lists in the two Hebrew
texts and in the two of Wendlarid and Pradel respectively and in Gollanc,:
'
Cf. the early Christian myth of the devil's wiles, Rev. 12.
4
The same number is found in the Hekate-Isis legend.
'
Griechische u. siid.- italienische Cebete, 23.
"
The Avezuba and Avestitza in Caster's Roumanian legends.
264 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN* SECTION. .
(Syriac), we find that the initial Hebrew Lilith = Greek Gelou.or Gilou'
= Syriac Geos, doubtless r= Gelos. The second in the' Hebrew, Abito
(Abitar?) =
Apiton the ninth in the Syriac; the third, Abiko (Abikar?)
= Abiza or Abuzou in the Greek texts, and as we observed above Avezuba
in the Roumanian. The fourth Amorpho (in our text) = Morphous or
Morphou having third place in the Greek texts, and Martlos, 4th in the
But the source of the legend is the common property of mankind, with
roots as ancient as the Babylonian Labartu and Gallu. A child-killing demon
which sucks babes' blood, etc., is Budge, Osiris and
found in Africa; see
was established out of all the elements that were brought together in that
age, and this spread again assuming its variant forms among the peoples
and faiths. If our text actually came from Nippur, it is of interest as the
earliest form of the Jewish legend and as one which can be dated with
approximate accuracy.
P.2O : add to the list of published Mandaic bowls the two photographic plates
of bowls (platesi, 2) in J. de Morgan, Etudes linguistiqiies, vol. v, part
P. 105, line 20: the Koran gives to the Mandaeans the same privileges as the
Jews and the Christians (see 2 :
59; 5 :
73 ;
22: 17).
GLOSSARIES
GLOSSARY A
GLOSSARY B
GLOSSARY C
GENERAL GLOSSARY
Prefatory Note
two publications of Pognon's are cited as "A" and "B", and Pognon's
full glossaries will serve to locate all words of his texts. Where lines of
texts are given, the reference is to the spiral line if facsimile is given,
otherwise to the lines of the printed text. I have not thought it necessary
to give the line citation for proper names even in my own texts, as they
to for any treatment by the editor; references are also added to further
In Glossaries A and B all the occurrences are given with the exception
of a few common divine names like mrv; in Glossary C only typical cita-
tions and peculiar forms; also it has been the aim to give citations from
(267)
GLOSSARY A
PERSONAL NAMES AND EPITHETS OF DEITIES, ANGELS,
DEMONS, ETC.
XJX3313X evil deity: Pogn B. xn^x, "X God: 7, 16, etc.
(TIB13X) ;
see p. 96. XOX demon (bath Imma) : Wohls
^13'X deity (Apollo? Aeon?) :
19. 2426.
TWO** feminine to above : ib.
'D'X name of demon: Wohls 2416
T3X epithet of God: 8. = Stiibe (see p. 77).
(269)
270 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
angel: Schw I.
Gabriel :
7 ; 34 ;
t?"3 ivn Evil Potency :
30.
etc. (see p. 96 f.). , DD^3n, oxnbn lilith: 11 and
i angel :
14. parallels.
angel: Schwab,/, c.
298.
12).
angel :
14. angel: 14; Schw I.
angel :
14, 19. TV deity Lidz :
5 (but see to
angel: 8.
angel: 8.
angel: Pogn B.
deity: 19. angel Schw : I.
Also eleven names of angel in Ellis 3: xbsDD, mo, n3D3, naana, nnTD,
nmM, n'nw, napna, naoin (= KDOIN ?), Dsp-iK, ;
cf. the "eleven"
names in Schw G sanoo, rptne>, :
233, iiTDi, ^'jj'D, p'nv, xspina, njnoi, mss,
D'J3. In Schw M a list of mystical angel names :
bbs, ^J?, bbo, etc.
A list of evil spirits inSchw G: n33, nono nbs:, '10DD, in'tSDD. Names
of ghosts, some cited above, Wohls 2417. For a lilith's names, see
No. 42.
nr irr, Schw Q; rr, Schw O; VI, ib.; mm, Hyv; nil, Ellis 4,
Hyv; in' in' in' Stiibe, 1. 16; IDE' r\\ ib. 1. 28; n'3m, 7: 8, Stiibe, 1.15,
cf. 13: 7; nn nn, 7: 12; in<no 31: 6; pin\ 14: 2.
FKfN, Stiibe, 1.
15; pw p'rr jo po, |D f|D, 1 5 : 2 ; ^o f e> }*p etc. 29:
K rs^ (Atbash), Stube, 1. 66. Cf. also i: 13, 24: 4f, 3: 6, etc.
GLOSSARY B
PROPER NAMES OF MEN AND WOMEN
K3K Abba s. Komesh: 17; s. Bar- Ahathbu m. Ahdabui:
kita: Stiibe. Wohls 2422.
K3'K Ibba s. Zawithai: 2. rtsixnnx, nsKnsnns Ahathadbah d.
in3X Abbahu (a sorcerer?) :
7,
Imma: Wohls 2426, 2414.
ruchiro: Pogn B.
8, Schw O; s. Dadbeh:
12, 16.
Ahathema m. Dade:
Mahlath: Schw P.
Pogn B.
nbJK Aglath d.
Ukkamai f. Zutra: Schw F.
'TN Idi, m. Asmin : Wohls 2417.
nos, KDK Imma m. Hisdai Schw E;
Adam; rucmp 'K : 10; D1K '33:
m. Osera: Schw G.
13, Pogn A.
IIBDX Amtur d. Solomon : Schw I.
Adak s. Hathoi : 6.
'no -noonn ':IK (?). Oni Har-
intt Aduryazdandur Pogn ;
masdar Tardi m. Tardi :
(274)
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 275
B. Aden, 128).
Z. f. K. F. ii, 296).
Y'X, 26: 5, 'D'K (32, 35),
Banai m. Merduch: 7, 27.
"D'X Ispandarmed
(30)
m. Yandundisnat 30; m. :
n3 ? perh. "son of praise"
Dinoi: 32, 35; m. Beh- name
(artificial of sorcer-
dar: Ellis i. er?) Schw G.
ms Ardoi s. Hormizcluch: 3; s.
Barbabe m. Yazid: Pogn
B.
Gayye: Myhr.
Bar-gelal s. Dodai: 15.
Arha f.
(m.) Ispiza: 30.
Arion
ND-na ( ?) Bardesa d. Terme :
39.
s. Zand: 19; 34 (sor-
cerer or deity?). "n 13 Bar-haye Rodw = : Hal =
Schw C (so Chwol CIH,
1
m Bath-sahde m. Bahroi :
34. Dazaunoye s. 'Adwitha :
ducht: Pogn B.
ruchusraw : Lidz 4 (cf.
Gaye s. Aspenaz :
Myhr. Justi, p. 86).
J Geyonai s. Mamai : 8. Dinoi s. Ispandarmed :
35.
3 ;
d. Mehduch :
14.
TH, T1ST David (the king) :
14,
:
25.
(see Pogn, p. 18; Justi, p.
D Timatheoz s. Mamai: 182; Andreas to Lidz, propos-
Lidz 2 ("Timotheos," Lidz). ing chush-sak).
Tardi d. Oni 20.
Kezabiath
:
ST3 in. Adur-
nsorrc>D Tsherazad m. Bar-sibebi: B, no. 23.
yazdandar :
Pogn
IS- , Tnna, Tinyna Chuze-
huroi(?) s. Beth-asia: Pogn
Venn', inB' B.
Joshua, Jesus, s.
Pogn B.
Mamai :
34.
"JS3 Kaphni Newanduch:f. 10; - Mehrikai s. Kusizag:
,
(cf. Andreas,
Mahl(aphta) :
9007 (unpub.). Mihr-hormizd: 34; m. Tim-
'intD Mehoi s. Dodai: 15. atheoz: Lidz 2.
Mehperoz s. Hindu: Ellis
npDD Maskath m. Malkona: Schw
3 (= Mihrperoz, Justi, p. P ("olive-gleaner").
206; cf. above, 3).
Mesorta m. Kurai :
Pogn B.
(= Miriam?). 38.
lowing name).
Kmo Martha m. Dodai: 15. pass Pabak s. Kufithai :
2, 4.
Mesarsia s. Mahlaphta :
19 ;
rvms, S'ms, X'nnB Perahia f.
d. Kaphni: 10, n ;
m. Behdan-
[X311B Farruchan s. Sahduch : Lidz
duch: Ellis I. i.
Sise d. Beth-asia:
B.
(compare the following).
Rakdatha d. Mehuphta :
Schw M.
n Terme d. Bade: 39.
'in Rasnoi d. Marath: 8;
m. Yazdoe: Pogn B. Tata niece of Bardesa :
39.
GLOSSARY C
GENERAL GLOSSARY
X3X father :
pi. prvnas 36 :
5.
ins be behind, tarry: Af. Wohls
13X perish: 9: 7. 2417.
X3131O destroyer behind :
pa'&anv Pogn B.
:
36 :
5.
'X alcove : 12 :
13. X3V = Talm. xs'N = N3 JVN,
if :
Pogn B repeated ;
= n^ is not: Pogn B.
if ... or: Pogn B. error for ?:
following nplN
X31X a disease: 24: 2. Schw G.
px squeeze: j'S'X i : u. eat: 36: 7; nxbsn, whoever
mx ,nnx letter of alphabet: nvrnx (f) eats, Pogn B.
(281)
282 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
DN, D'N if: 2: 3; repeated, whether pi. 'BO i : 12, Se>J 35: 8.
tree-top?: 34: 5.
'H ditto. 4: 3, etc.
}N if: in p, Lidz 4: 9.
DK binding: Lidz 5.
wood: 38: 2.
12, etc.; constr. yytt 7-
IN moreover: 3: n, etc.; 11N,
I3> C"3V 38: 8; pi. 'C'j'K 7:
NE'^N K'UWX Schw I.
15, 32: 10,
earth: 2: Schw L.
2; spix, Myhr)
Pogn B. cease, abandon: impv. 7: 15,
p. 80) : 2 :
3 in Pogn B,
; K3U lintel :
iirrmu ,6:4.
b3J knead: 12: 5 (of magical op-
XTV3 Syr. KT3
,
cattle : Wohls 2422, eration).
37: 2.
34: 8, 13J be strong : Pa. p33JO , 30 :
5.
2.
Pogn B (n&53, JT3 compon-
ent ofname Pogn B, ?) ;
vi3 wall up (against demons) :
17:
8.
plur. J33 3: 3, tinrm 3:
5. &6pm voice, 16: 10. 13 midst: 133 34: 6, wb 13: 10, 13 jo
Ni3i xr)33, demons, 29: 7. 32 : 6.
13 apart in |'O 13 19: 15, Pogn B. 113 tie, bind (of a spell) :
29: 10.
tro the open country: 17: 3, snu eruption, noise : '3 bsp Pogn
29: 7. B.
K13 Pa. put outside :
Pogn B. K313 color, form: f3r3 7: 15 =
'SO3 foreigner :
29 : 8. J'313 Myhr.
"in3 bright, of angels: Schw NB13 body: Hal, Schw Q; nsi3,
I. term for a man's inamor-
SO3 create: 2: 2, Myhr. ata, 13: 12.
KTO hail': 14: 3.
^T3 rob: Pogn B.
ma flee : Ellis i : 8. 1T3 inhibit, ban: 7: 13, Pogn B.
TQ bless :
25 :
3 ;
Pa. X3n3 Pogn B KHTTJ ban: 7: 13.
magical condemnation :
(from i>JV?).
18: 6.
Pogn B.
qi'J engrave :
t^J TV ,
1 1 :
9.
\3i see -at.
foj SOJN ? Wohls 2422 ("good
works"?). 131, n3H hy on account of:
'lOJ 25: 3-
engrave :
36 :
7.
TDJ completion: 'Tj pasture land: Ellis 3.
|DT ny Schw
F. chariot-driver :
Pogn
B.
WJ Jinn: Hyv, prob. 37: 10 (see
S^H (angelic) cohorts: 8: 14.
p. 80).
(pi) NJH judgment, of the last
N1JJ, KIJU troop: 7: 17; species
of demons 37 : 6.
day: 4: 4, 19: 8, Wohls 2417.
74).
ppl. = future, 37: 3;
Mand. w. prep., riTinn,
K3T pure: 27: 4.
38: 13; 'n, Schw M.
snan place: pnan (sic} Schw G.
a&rn mansion: 38: 2, Hyv, Pogn
131 record: 14: 6, 29: 9.
A, B, Lidz 2; heavenly
131, Mand. ")3T, male: 6: 2,
temple, 14: 3.
39: 5, Ellis 5.
pan thus: 17: 10.
t"ian name: 28: 5.
pan ditto : 8 : 8.
&6n draw up: Pogn B, Etpa.
n'Mn Halleluia, magical term: 7:
K'imo reliever, epith. of Ra-
17, etc.; misspelt, 20: 5,
phael: 34: 7.
24: 4, 31: 8, 32: 12.
*6^n place in Babylonia: Hal. ibn walk : iWo 3 :
3.
m blood: Schw M.
isn turn: pane, of the angels who
sen, be like, appear in disguise, of revolve the planets, Stiibe
spirits N'Olb impf Pogn
: .
ib. i.
8; Etp. 1. 14, 36:
B, Etpe. i 12, etc. :
6, !
impiety :
30 :
5. wan love: 'anj, 13: 9.
288 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
B.
4, w. K"n, livestock.
rrmo healing: Schw H.
mn new: smn, KTiKn Pogn B; f.
25-
N"U3n wine :
Hyv, Pogn B. 28:
Tin a pungent herb ?: 3.
ass: 40: 4. 14.
mn ban: pass, ppl., 7: 17, Pogn
pebble-charm :
19: 16, plur, B.
pom, iron, 4: i, 30: 3.
osnn curse: Montg.
38: ii (see p. 87).
ND'in anathema: Schw M.
c"cn five of you: 8: 31. 17: 4.
snJDins ditto 2 6 also snoin : :
; ,
xntrnn fifth: 6: 8.
Wohls
read by Frankel in
womb: 36: 5. 2426: 2.
encamp :
from ? Schw I.
pom Hermon : 2 : 6.
palate :
Pogn B. K Din an eruptive disease: Wohls
P^n throttle, of a lilith: 18: 6, Lidz 2422 (read n for n ).
j'DDxn ? Schw I.
empoisonment :
39 : 6.
i<
ditto: 34: i. n'Knns 1. 4.
j oinn(?)
snonn ditto: 3: 38:
i>3' bring: nxblS, Pogn B, no. 28.
i, 30: i,
13, Pogn A snow-in. t?3' dry up :
Pogn B.
Knonin ditto: Pogn B. T hand: "HIT 19: 14, nTK 34: 13;
H-N hy on side of, Schw
"3D gazelles : Wohls 2414. E; T3 /><?r, 8: 13; rvnn
28:
'
adjure: NJWK'Oi WDio 7: 16, cf.
3.
40: 5, etc. ;rvoiN8: 6,'n'OiN
xoc unclean: 34: 10.
17: 8; with by 8: 12. So
'Oio defilements :
29 :
7. understand J'DID PIIE^S,
|JB Pa. defile :
Pogn A. Schw 1 :
5 (not "water
nnij?B false deity: pi. Kmyo Wohls magic"!).
2422, snyo ffr. 2426. snom exorcism: i: 12; pi.
N:BIB the deluge: 10: 5. TnNDiD Lidz 5.
10, Pogn A.
5- N'O'n south: Pogn B (with
nit2 trouble: Schw I. S'SIJ ) .
KmiiD javelin : 1 1 :
7 and par- Hal, Schw E.
allels. bl3 hold: ^3<D inf. 4: i.
Pogn B, Lidz 2.
so 1 1 p3 therefore, 9 :
7,
t'3 :
3 : ;
B, etc. In composition,
KTTID3 ditto: 13: 6.
pr6rv3, i: and passim 6,
KD'3, N'D-113, throne: 8: 14, 14: 3. in Mandaic with verb and
(ij?3)j jnj?3K ugliness, a disease ?:
pronominal suffix, e. g.
34: 10.
n|vp'3E> I have divorced
NOD'S menstruation :
29 :
7. her, 32: 9; for b, 19: 10;
133 disbelieve: Pogn B. with verb to denote pur-
n'3 ? in '3 Tin ,
Wohls 2422. pose, B'jW), Pogn B, no.
tmi3 sickness: Wohls 23, 1.
45, 46 (cf. by).
7: 11,
'XtB>3 Chaldaeans :
Hyv (se be clad: 2: 2, 8: 3; Af. 13: 6,
Gloss A). Pogn B.
Nt3B>i3 honesty :
Pogn B, Lidz 2. Ntnsb garment: 2:2, 13: 6.
7- tn'i? company :
Pogn B.
3H3 write, of the charms: 9: 3 etc., curse: Stiibe 4, Pogn B, Lidz
Pogn B. 2 N'lt2s6, they cursed him.
,
jcmra writing: Ellis i. b a curse: 5: i, 31: 4,
NDD melt: 9: 6.
Lidz 2.
ton denom. fr. TDX, bind: 32: 7,
H'3 (?) excommunication?:
33:8. Ellis 3.
&6'J?D robe: tnD'n 'o 13: 6.
sm'3 vow, ban, in magic :
5 : 2, 7 :
bind :
Pogn B, Lidz K'pnjn
2,
pass, ppl., Halevy (see KD3 Pa. prove, try: nK'D3 she has
3). proved, Pogn B.
JO13 commotion :
Pogn B. xrvDX3 trial :
Pogn B.
ni3 rest: Etpe. rurvK, 2: 6. 303 take up :
4 :
6, 28 :
3, Pogn B ;
prince of fire, Hyv; light, [S3 fall: impv. l^is Wohls 2414,
in '3 '33 i : Pogn B.
9.
curses).
NDB> D1BH '3, Schw I.
103 Pa. guard 7 9, 35 :
6;
: :
Etpe. K3HV3 victorious: Schw I.
10 3, 32: ii.
:
a satan, Satan 2
spirit, of man: Schw G,
: :
3, 5 :
4,
Na'D sword :
37 : 8.
3ND Pa. make unclean N3NDD : N3D, N3Blook at: Pogn A, of the
Wohls 2422. demon's glance Schw ;
I.
39 :
10, N'rND ,
m. pi., (inf. ^3DN ) ; Etpa. be-
38: IO, NDTDD 40: 21. P^D go up: p'^D 3d pers. 32: 8.
strength: 6: n.
as a servant, Pogn B.
strong: fern., epithet of
servant :
34 :
7.
Dilbat 28: 5, of deity 38:
magical practice : Schw 7, of spirits and witches
F (for this and following
Pogn A, B.
terms, see p. 51).
xy sheep: 40: 4, 14.
ditto :
32 :
3.
NTy Etpa. persist: 34: 10.
SH3iy ditto: 9: i, etc., Pogn B,
Lidz sisoiy of the
srmy in 'yn noin , Schw R.
4 ;
F, M, Stiibe 10.
mon 34: 8, of God 8: n,
ring of fire 15 :
7.
13V pass over, transgress 32 : : 8
i :
9, 7: 3, 6: ii 13'J.
;
7: ii,
(freq. for b, cf. pa'by and
Nnpjx, 16: 9, masc. plur.
pr6, 8: 3, 9, and in gener-
12: 9 (see p. 88).
'PJS ,
88).
F) ; 3d pers. irp^y Schw
F, *mby Stiibe 32 ;
2d plur. ipy uproot :
p'py, Hal; Pa. 8: 15;
pa'X^y Pogn B ; 3d, YX^K, Etpa. 9: 6.
a Mand. genius :
Pogn B, the command 38 : :
6,
6.
idolatry: 37: prwip, 36: 5, monp 37:
8; mip JD 25: 2, ojnip
stature, person :
Pogn B.
Np emphatic part, in xpSK, 7: 14,
ditto: 2: 19: 3, Pogn
17: 12. i,
collect:
B.
Nap 37: 4.
place : Schw M.
bap receive: 6: n, 37: 7, Pogn B;
impv. ib'ap Ellis I, b'3Np ditto: Hal (of cattle).
Lidz 5. ,
bt3J kill, of demons :
3 :
2, 4, 36 :
trap, siaip tomb: Wohls 2422, N-iB'p spell: 7: 13, 28: 5, Hy/.
Pogn B. Ni'P pi. wax figures: 39: 7.
84).
(B>p)twp old: 19: 9.
amulet: 2: i, 10: 17, 29: 5,
H?p hard, painful: pi. "B>p 7 :
n,
Ellis 5 (see p. 44).
Wohls 2422.
NlOip vault of heaven?: Pogn B bow : 2 :
4.
(zodiac?, see Payne-
Smith, col. 3650).
Nnop = Nt20p ? contortion :
34 : 10.
NB'Nl, NK"i, NB"N1 head: 19: 19,
Pogn B, 4: 5.
KJ'Jp, ''p possessions 2 5. 34 3 : : :
cattle).
'i Nrw , 38 : 10, Wohls
2417 'i 'ON grandmother,
'Bjp person(?): 'OJp 'TD3 Schw I.
NTIN31 Pogn B 31, '31 title ;
Etpe. 3 :
2, Pogn B N'ipo. NH31 usury: Lidz 2.
nip, Nip flee: 18: 9 = Nip Lidz 5 ND3i stone(?): Pogn B, D'Ji Lidz
(metathesis of 2.
302 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
-i
height: plur 9: 6. Dnnon name of a place or sanctu-
Dm loving Schw I.
Hand. Kn'pi, K'ypn, pi. the
'Dm love of God: 3: i, u: 2, seven X'nypn, Pogn B.
Schw E. authority Stiibe 61 men in
:
;
19: u.
pm be far :
ppls. Kpm Schw G, P'm V Heb. relative: KVW, 13NE-, Schw
Hal; Pa. 14: 2 Lidz 4; M; magical element, see
8: Lidz p. 60.
Etpe. 17, 4
ask: n-b'KB' 4: 6.
A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 303
J.
pa'by i :
8, 3 :
3 ;
Mand. 86).
JV3PK, I adjure, 40: 5, Kme'D sender: Pogn B.
Pogn B (assigned wrong- KIP be equal: in ppl. '3 niPK, like;
ly by him to K3P). Pa. set: 37: 11, Pogn B.
3P, Kjjyp, ny3P, njnp seven: nKmp lust: 28: 4.
6: 7, 19: 4, 4: 4, etc.;
(DIP) o'P eye-tumor: 34: 10.
Mand. K'SKP, J)31P, Pogn
B. IIP crawl, of witches Pogn : B ;
rub(?) ib.
I'JQP seventy: 7: 17 of angels,
IIP leap forth: ppl. TPig: 14.
Hyv of spells.
KiKlP leaper, cphialtes: Pogn
Knjn3P oath Schw I.
:
A (see p. 82).
KTVJP3P seventh, fern. : 6 : 8.
Klip wall :
4 :
6, 34 :
4.
P3P dismiss, divorce: np'3P 17: 2,
PIP Pa. overthrow: inf. K'PIKP,
32: 9, 40: 22 nb'P'3P I
Pogn B.
have divorced her ; Pa.
B.
Kimp bribe :
Pogn B, Lidz 4.
Pogn
ninp worship: 8: 14.
pia'P divorcement: 8: 13, plur.
9= 5- tnp burn, with love: jivnp'J 28: i.
?, SB'JltJ' commotion :
Pogn Schw R.
B. KTP song, charm :
32 :
9, 33 :
4.
304 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
spell 34 :
5. Schw G, xnnDitr 16: 8;
KaaC"O (TV3) bedchamber :
7 :
7.
Mand. Kelts' 38: 7, plur.
8: 5, 19: 3. IVXD'B'40: i; Dit5>3, in the
rot? find: Etpe. 8: 7.
name of (deity, angel,
sorcerer, or the charm-
NJS' !??1
i.
impv. 'KncTK 36 :
7.
Nrpc? 32: 3, 33:
(nB>) nE>cr six: 11:9.
5>pE> take off: II :
8, Lidz 5.
I'n'B*, r^"^ 60, in enumeration
1PE> strike . 1 1 : 6, Lidz 5.
of demons, etc. 19 : : 8, 38 :
5, Stiibe 2, Wohls 2426, nan break: 40: 12; Etpe. 40: 12,
2414 KniB'pB' Lidz 4 (see Lidz la; Pa. nasn, Lidz
p. 86). 2.
vermin :
7 :
14. crown: K1T1 NJSn Pogn B.
Pa. bind, magically TIB* : Schw plur. rrODJn
military division :
3i: 5. 37: 4-
KOinn, SDin abyss, always in plur:
Tie* firm, of charms: 3: i, 13: Schw F, G, Pogn B K'Oin
8, Lidz 5. N"nnn (Pogn as though
KnviE>, authority: Schw I. = womn, black).
pie> impv. pi. Lidz ib, nnn.n'nn, etc. under :vnnn Schw F,
with suff. Lidz 2, ditto nTin under the hand 7: 12
fem. 'tne> Pogn B, e. g.
= mnn 16: 6; Mand.
no. 15; Af. to lodge, 14: 38: 12, itwvn Pogn B.
306 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION
'snnn inferior :
Pogn B, see to 80 :
19 :
9, w. suff. jsjson
soinn. Lidz 4.
nbn three : nsbn Pogn B, son^n 300 etc., 34: 9, 40: 19; of the
38: 5 ; prnbn, pyrrbn 17: sorcerer 34: 2.
PRONOMINAL FORMS
1st per. s:s : 2 :
i, 5, 4 :
6, etc. ;
S3S: 7:16, Stiibe 43 (these forms in
ii :
i, Pogn B; "ON :
14: I.
stereotyped phrases, cf. N3l(3)
ist pers. pi. SJn:s : i :
14. 16: 8); pn 3: 6, pton 28: :
3 I: 5. 35: 9, 36: 5. !
8: 7, etc., 32: 4; in :
39: 8; as
pW: Hal 2; ni)'K, ^K, n^K:
copula sin Kin; 9: i, 32: 3;
Sinn Schw F; -n: Ellis 3. 25: 2, 5.
10 i, Ellis :
5, Hal; pn :
3: 5- 10, 29 : 8, mo Ellis 5.
GENERAL INDEX
GENERAL INDEX
Abraxas 57, 99, 151 barbarous words 59
Abatur. 71, 96, 261 baskania 68, 78
Adam 166 Bel 239
Aeon 198 beasts exorcised 44 f.
Babelon, E. 18 paleography of 27 f.
87, 91, 109 f., 152, 187 brass in magic 137, 187
(309)
310 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
253 f- 262
Charles, B. B. 44 number of 71
charms, etc 86 f. threatening of 131
children in magic, s. women devils (dewin) 73 f.
countermagic 53, 83, 137 duplicate texts 42, 145 f., 167 f.,
cultns 51 203 f.
curses, magical 84
eclectic magic 58, 64, 106 f., 115
dastabira (Persian) 228, 52
Egyptian magic 53 f., 55, 58, 59,
date of bowls, s. bowls
62, 64, 91, 114
David 184 ckurru 72
Day of Judgment 135, 235 El-shaddai 191
demonology in New Testament 78, Elija 259 f.
9I f. T.
Ellis, 16. 18, 23 f.
Scripture quotations in 62 f.
Randall-Maclver, D. 13
personal 49 f.
patkara 72 Selah 63
spirits
utukki 54, 68, 73, 75, no
evil (ruhin) 74 f.
vampire 81, 157
familiar 142 vows, magical 84
seducing 80 Washington National Mseuum 21
Stiibe, R. 19 water in magic 235
Sulzberger, M. 44 wax in
magic 250
Sun 222, 239 Winterthur Museum 19
syllables, magical 60 witches, witchcraft 78, 235, 261 f.
173, 189, 214, 219, 257 YHVH 56, 60, 150, 210, 224
threatening of demons 131 zaklku 80
three hundred and sixty 71 Zeus 200
tin in magic 249 Zimmern, H. no
Tonks, O. S. 22 zodiacal constellations 135 f.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 315
GREEK WORDS
oi
79, 91, 198 250
a
63, 202 Mf 51, 84
63 OftKOl 84
84 Trdperfpof 142
176
f, 6atfi6vtffaai 74
Selva 261 ffoAa
63
<5id3o)M So OT?ua 73
firfuAov
72 arpayyakia. 240
eif ro bvofta
215 c-3
au&tv, ouTTipia, GUTTJP 129
79
^6 60, 181, 184
52, 84
62
8l, 85 f.
80, 82
roiia
84
, defigcre 52
The concave spherical surface on which the bowl texts are inscribed
by hand.
Soon after the bowls came to the Museum, Professor Jastrow, of the
(819)
320 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
Gordon, Director of the Museum, who offered me the expert services of his
39)-
not giving the exact form of the original, but this demerit is small as com-
pared with the advantage to the scholar of having the whole text lying
before him at one glance without his being under the necessity of turning
a bulky volume around and around to follow the spiral career of the text.
I was therefore quite satisfied to retain this method of reproduction.
several cases his copies, which were made when the texts were fresher and
more legible (they have manifestly faded under exposure to light), have
helped me correct or enlarge my readings. The other copyists also worked
independently, and then we compared our
respective results. The coopera-
tion of others, expert copyists, with the author has thus tended to a full
control of the accuracy of the facsimiles and transliterations.
I have finally to speak in the highest terms of the artistic and pains-
taking labors of these two gentleman and Miss Baker, whose assistance has
afforded me so great relief.
CATALOGUE
TEXT 'PLATE CATALOGUE SIZE DESCRIPTION
NUMBER in centimetrei,
height by diameter
321
322 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
probably of a lilith.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 323
in center.
way.
design of a demon?
324 UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYLONIAN SECTION.
heijkt by diameter
lines.
J. A. MONTGOMERY ARAMAIC INCANTATION TEXTS. 325
beiibt bj diameter
.5 cm. high.
in it.
No. 33.
missing.
EXTERIOR 12
UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYL. SECTION VOL. III. PLATE
2
UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYL. SECTION VOL. III. PLATE III.
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UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYL. SECTION VOL. III. PLATE IV.
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UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYL. SECTION VOL. III.
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UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYU SECTION VOL. III. PLATE XII.
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UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYL. SECTION VOL. III. PLATE XIII.
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UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYL. SECTION VOL. III. PLATE XIV.
13
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UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYL. SECTION VOL. 1 1 1. PLATE XV.
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UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYL. SECTION VOL. III. PLATE XVI.
15
UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYL. SECTION VOL. III. PLATE XVII.
16
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UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYL. SECTION VOL. III. PLATE XVIII.
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UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYL. SECTION VOL. III. PLATE XIX
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UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYL. SECTION VOL. III. PLATE XX.
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20
UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYL. SECTION VOL. III. PLATE XXII.
21
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UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYL. SECTION VOL. 1 1 1. PLATE XXVII.
31
UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYL. SECTION VOL. III. PLATE XXVIII.
32
UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYL. SECTION VOL. III. PLATE XXIX.
33
UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYL. SECTION VOL. III. PLATE XXX.
34
UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYL. SECTION VOL. III. PLATE XXXI.
35
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UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYL. SECTION VOL. III. PLATE XXXII.
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UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYL. SECTION VOL. 1 1 1. PLATE XXXIII.
37
7 "
UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYL. SECTION VOL. III. PLATE XXXIV.
38
EXTERIOR
UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYL. SECTION VOL. III. PLATE XXXV.
39
40
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UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYL. SECTION VOL. III. PLATE XXXVII.
40 CONTINUED
EXTERIOR
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UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYL. SECTION VOL. III. PLATE XXXVIII.
40 CONTINUED
-22;
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&6^:^.....O.V- f /<#\0u^vu o^l -s^|
FRAGMENTS
OUTSIDE
UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYL. SECTION VOL. III. PLATE XXXIX.
ALPHABETIC TABLES.
I SQUARE SCRIPT. II MANDAIC SCRIPT.
7 4 16 19 21-23 26 25 Text Numbers 38 39 40
<C> O-
"D 13
A X A S
n n n n rr n
V3 LO in 10
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UNIVERSITY MUSEUM. BABYL. SECTION VOL. III. PLATE XL.
^.c.iaaoL
5208 Montgomery,
A2
1913
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
LIBRARY